


The Cavern of Mysteries

by keithpoenewt



Series: Voltron Harry Potter Hogwarts AU [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Book 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Eventual Relationships, F/M, Female Pidge | Katie Holt, Gen, Harry Potter AU, Hogwarts AU, Human Shay (Voltron), Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Hunk (Voltron) is so Pure, I love him, Keith (Voltron) Angst, Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, M/M, Orphan Keith (Voltron), POV Keith (Voltron), Pining Keith (Voltron), Pre-Relationship, Sassy Pidge | Katie Holt, Slow Burn, friendship goals tbh, he had a rough childhood, it's a long ride from here folks, obvi, she'd fight anyone tbh, the slippery slope starts for our favorite emo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2018-12-09 20:22:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 51,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11676411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keithpoenewt/pseuds/keithpoenewt
Summary: Our favorite paladins have reached their second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but this only means more trouble. Join Keith, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge as they figure out the mysteries of the school when kids start to get "petrified" and weird voices are heard in the walls of the school...Could this be the work of Lord Zarkon?





	1. The Foster Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life at Keith's foster home is always in constant disarray. Kids are constantly screaming and running around the house. Arguments break out between kids because they accuse each other of stealing their toys (it's really Keith's cat, Red, hiding them).
> 
> It especially sucks for Keith because he's the least favorite kid, but can't figure out why. He didn't even do anything wrong! He's one of the quietest ones there! He keeps to himself and does his chores in a timely manner (especially since he usually ends up with the most work to do).
> 
> No one remembered his birthday or probably didn't care enough to find out when it is. His friends haven't even wrote to them.
> 
> What's up with that?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOOK 2 IS HERE! I know I said I was going to upload this after the drop of S3, but oh well...here we are. This book is entirely from Keith's POV. I decided to switch between him and Lance throughout the series. You'll get to see Lance again in book 3.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Cover art below!

Chaos…absolute chaos is what starts just about every morning at the Jeffcock Foster Home, also known as the only foster home to house muggle children and wizard children in the same house. How has the wizarding world not been exposed? Well, the father who owns the house has taken several precautions to make sure that doesn’t happen…he locked up all of Keith’s magical items (spellbooks, broomstick, wand, cauldron) in a closet. He doesn’t trust Keith because of his past.

Keith doesn’t understand that because the father’s kid, Caleb Jeffcock, is way worse than Keith when it comes to dealing with magic! Caleb’s marks at the end of his year at Durmstrang Institute were the worst Keith’s ever seen! Not to mention his behavior comments…he started several fights. The only detention Keith ever got was from helping someone else!

Durmstrang Institute is the Scandinavian wizarding school, located in the northernmost regions between Norway and Sweden. The school is willing to accept international students as far as Bulgaria. Durmstrang has existed since at least 1294, and is well-known for featuring the Dark Arts in its curriculum. Durmstrang does not admit Muggleborns…which Keith thinks is stupid. He knows several Muggleborns who are better wizards than he is.

Anyway, Jonathan Jeffcock, the foster father, is, what wizards would, a Squib. This term is associated with people who have at least one wizard parent. In a way, they are wizard-born muggles and are looked upon with disdain by some in the wizarding community, primarily purebloods.

Keith stays at this foster home during the summer after his first term at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry because Takashi Shirogane, Hogwarts’s current headmaster, is unable to adopt him until the mystery of Keith’s parents’ missing bodies is solved. Shiro sent Keith to this foster home because this is the only one in the area near where Shiro lives who knows about the Wizarding World.

Keith ducks as a fork goes flying over his head. He turns back to see two of the muggle foster kids fighting over the last waffle. Another one starts crying, demanding more sausage. Keith winces as he hears his cat, Red, meow loudly from where she was napping on the windowsill.

Now Keith’s gonna have to deal with her being in a sour mood.

Jonathan slams his fork down on the table and glares daggers at Keith. “Will you shut your cat up?! I can’t stand when that stupid thing meows at night!”

“Sir, she doesn’t-” Keith starts.

“Did I ask you to talk back? No, I did not. Hurry up and finish your breakfast, you’re on weed duty outside,” Jonathan interrupts rudely.

Keith lowers his head sheepishly. “Yes sir.”

“Okay everyone! I have an announcement to make!” Jonathan exclaims, standing up. “I have a big meeting with a contractor to build a bigger house for all of you foster kids to stay in and so I can take in more kids!”

The muggle kids murmur with excitement and exchange happy expressions.

“I need everyone to be on their best behavior when they come,” Jonathan continues. “You kids make sure you behave yourselves during dinner. I need them to think you all are well-behaved children so they’ll allow me to take in more kids. Caleb, you just keep acting like your angel self.”

Caleb smirks at Keith and sticks his tongue out.

“Keith, you stay in your room and don’t make a sound. You’re the one I’m most concerned about,” Jonathan says, glaring at Keith.

“I’ll just be up there pretending I don’t exist,” Keith replies with a monotone voice.

Jonathan smiles. “Good! That’s exactly what I need from you! Now hurry up and finish…you’re also on dish duty.”

Keith bites back a remark in fear of being punished further. He doesn’t want to be stuck with cleaning the bathrooms!

“Keith, go get me some more bacon from the pan,” Caleb orders as Keith finishes his last bite of pancakes. “I’m hungry for more and I don’t want you getting any of it.”

Keith lifts his head to snark back, but one glare from Jonathan snuffs out anything Keith had in mind. He stands up and makes his way towards the kitchen, muttering, “You forgot the magic word.”

Caleb’s eyes widen and he turns to Jonathan. “KEITH SAID THE WORD!”

The entire house goes silent for a few seconds. The muggle kids look between Jonathan and Keith in suspense. They’re probably hoping Keith gets a spanking or something. Jonathan opens his mouth to speak, but a loud crash from the living room interrupts them. Keith, Jonathan, and the other kids turn and see Red licking her paw next to a broken toy.

One of the muggle kids burst into tears and yells about his broken car. Two other kids start crying when he does, claiming they didn’t get enough to eat.

Everything goes downhill from there and everyone explodes into absolute chaos once again. Food goes flying, plates break on the floor, and juice spills all over the table.

_ What a way to start a 12 _ _ th _ _ birthday _ , Keith thinks bitterly to himself.

Today on July 26, Keith turns the strapping age of 12 and is ready to move onto his second year at Hogwarts. No one in his foster home remembered his birthday, but Keith didn’t think they cared enough. Keith isn’t a favorite and there are too many kids to keep track of in general.

After Keith finishes cleaning up the table from breakfast, he heads outside to begin pulling weeds. He looks up towards the sky, hoping to see an owl flying towards his house. Keith sighs and kicks a rock across the yard when no owl comes.

Keith was sure he’d get something from his friends on his birthday, but he hasn’t heard a word from them all summer! His best friends from Hogwarts, Lance McClain, Hunk Garett, and Pidge Holt, promised they’d send him letters!

Did they lie to him?

No, that’s impossible! They wouldn’t just ditch Keith…not after everything they’ve been through together. Not after-

A rustling in the bushes interrupts Keith’s train of thought. He looks over at the hedges and sees a pair of wide, blue eyes staring back at him. Keith takes a step to investigate, but stops when he hears Caleb’s voice.

“Aww, no friends to write to you on your birthday?” He cackles. “How pathetic! Why would anyone ever want to be your friend!?”

Keith continues to stare at the hedge, completely ignoring Caleb. He’s dealt with Bethany and Damien long enough to know Caleb isn’t worth his time.

“What are you doing? What are you looking at?!” Caleb demands.

Keith’s nostrils flare in frustration and he turns to glare at Caleb. “Do you ever shut up? I’m trying to decide how I’m gonna set the bush on fire!”

Caleb yelps and jumps back from Keith. He runs into the house, yelling about Keith being a psycho. Jonathan yells for Keith to come inside and punishes him by making him clean the whole house, pick weeds, and mow the lawn.

_ Great…just great _ , Keith thinks bitterly to himself as he is handed a mop and a broom.

He spends the rest of the day mopping, dusting, and washing just about everything in sight. The worst part were the bathrooms…who knew kids could be so disgusting? Good thing he didn’t use the same bathroom as these muggle kids because…yuck. Mold and mildew had begun to grow along the edges of the shower. The toilet smelled awful and had been clogged with something Keith didn’t know a person could produce. Hair was lodged in the drain of the shower.

By the time he finished, it was dinner time. Jonathan gives Keith a sandwich and a glass of water then sends him up to his room, warning him not to make a sound.

Keith sulks as he goes up the stairs to his room. He sets his plate and glass on his dresser and makes his way over to his bed to lie down, but he finds someone else already sitting on it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will never get tired of seeing Red. I love her so much.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are appreciated!  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com)


	2. A New Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith meets a house mouse named Chulatt, who has come to warn him about the dangers of returning to Hogwarts this upcoming term. She's the one responsible for hoarding all of Keith's mail from his friends. Keith doesn't want to listen to her warnings and that causes her to act in a way that will definitely have Keith locked away for good...
> 
> Or will someone save him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay season 3 DELIVERED on so many different levels! I love Lotor's generals so fricken much. Acxa is my favorite, but I relate most to Zethrid (I have a thirst for violence too). The Klance dynamic totally developed from a rivalry to a co-leadership-type thing. LANCE IS KEITH'S IMPULSE CONTROL CONFIRMED!
> 
> I have BIG PLANS for Lotor's ladies in the next book and I think y'all's are gonna love them immensely.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Keith’s room in general isn’t very big so he’d definitely notice something out of place. Directly across from the door is Keith’s bed, tucked away in the left corner of the room. A small nightstand with a lamp on top resides next to it. A window is in the center of the wall, at the level of the nightstand. To Keith’s right from entering the doorway is a dresser full of his clothes and a closet in the right corner of the room on the same wall as the door. A small cat bed for Red on an old chair is in the right corner of the room across from the closet.

Keith slowly makes his way over to the bed to get a better look at the creature. He realizes the creature on the bed is the same one who was in the bush earlier that afternoon. The creature is small, has big blue eyes, mouse-like ears, blue fur, and wears a tattered light blue pillowcase for clothes. She has a little blue bow on her left ear.

The creature stands up and holds her hand out for Keith to shake. “Hello! My name is Chulatt and I am a house mouse and I’ve come here bearing news!”

Keith shakes her hand. “I’m Keith…would you like to sit back down?” He removes Red’s bed from the chair and pulls it across from the bed for himself to sit on.

Chulatt’s eyes widen and tears brim her eyes. “I’ve never been treated like an equal to a wizard before!” She sobs loudly.

Keith winces and pats her gently on the head. “You must not know many nice wizards then.”

Chulatt suddenly hops down from the bed and begins banging her head against the nightstand, causing the lamp to wobble. The sound echoes throughout the room and Keith cringes, knowing it can be heard downstairs. “Hey, stop!” Keith pulls her away from the table and kneels in front of her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Chulatt, why are you doing that?”

She stops and wipes her eyes. “I must punish myself for speaking poorly of my masters. I shouldn’t be doing that.”

Keith tilts his head in confusion. “If they’re being mean to you, just leave. You don’t have to take anything from them. I wish I could leave this stupid foster home.”

She straightens up and places her hand on Keith’s, removing it from her shoulder. “I am bound to serve them until I die…meaning I can’t leave either.” Chulatt shakes her head, dismissing the thoughts from her head. “I’m not here to speak about them. I’m here to talk about you.”

“Me? Why me?” Keith wonders. “There’s nothing special about me.”

Chulatt gasps. “You survived an attack from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named! You’re so modest, polite, and kind! No wonder why people think highly of you!”

Keith scoffs. “I think you’re thinking of the wrong kid, but how did you know about me surviving the attack? Are you talking about the one when I was a baby?”

Chulatt shakes her head no. “The one that occurred at Hogwarts! Speaking of Hogwarts, I came here to tell you that I don’t want you returning there! Danger waits for you!”

“Chulatt, what’s going on? What’s gonna happen there?” Keith asks.

Chulatt shakes her head, refusing to say anything else.

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll go to Hogwarts anyway,” Keith states.

She groans loudly and bangs her head against the nightstand some more, but this time her loud yelps are heard downstairs. Keith hears someone stomping up the stairs and panics. He grabs Chulatt and puts her in the closet. “Don’t say a word!” Keith scolds.

His door flies open and Jonathan glares daggers at him. “I gave you  _ one _ direction and it was so simple a buffoon could do it! Cut with the racket or  _ else _ !” He shuts the door and storms back downstairs.

Once Keith knows he’s gone, he opens the closet and sees Chulatt holding a bunch of letters.

Keith narrows his eyes. “Chulatt, what are those?”

She hands him the letters. “Mail from your friends. I thought if you were under the impression that your friends forgot about you, you wouldn’t want to return to Hogwarts.”

Keith looks at all the letters, opening the most recent one from Lance.

“Chulatt! Why did you keep these from me?! My friends are clearly worried about me!” Keith exclaims.

“It was part of my plan to keep you from returning to Hogwarts!” Chulatt exclaims. “I didn’t want to, but I had to…for your own safety.”

“Chulatt, I have to go back. Hogwarts is my home…the people I love are there!” Keith exclaims.

Chulatt sighs. “I didn’t want to have to do this, Keith, but you leave me no choice!” She opens the door and runs down the hall.

Keith hurries out the door after her. “Chulatt!” he whisper-yells. “Get back here!”

He follows her out of his room down the hallway, past the other foster kids’ rooms. All of theirs are much roomier than Keith’s…probably because his technically should have been a storage room of sorts. The foster father only installed the closet once he knew he’d have to deal with Keith.

Chulatt makes her way down the spiral stairs and into the entryway, turning left for the kitchen. Keith hears the voices of Jonathan and the contractors in the room towards the right. His heart almost stops when he hears the voices waver for a moment, probably wondering what came down the stairs. Keith hears Jonathan assure the contractors it must be the “dumb cat” he has in the house. It takes most of Keith’s willpower not to scream at him for insulting Red.

He leaps into the kitchen and sees Chulatt eyeing a large apple pie on the counter. “Chulatt! Stop!”

She lifts her hands and enchants the pie to float in the air. “Are you still planning to return to Hogwarts?”

“What?! Yes, I am! Put the pie back down!” Keith orders.

Chulatt sighs. “Then I have to do this!” She snaps her fingers and the pie begins floating through the entryway and into the living room.

Keith scrambles over to the pie and watches in horror as it stops above one of the contractor’s heads. On the bright side, they’re faced away from Keith and the pie…but this means Jonathan can see everything that’s about to happen.

His eyes widen as the cake drops on the contractor’s head. The conversation comes to a grinding halt and the contractor spits out some cake from his mouth.

Jonathan’s jaw drops and he stands up. “Sir…I am so sorry! One of the children here is very wrong in the head, but I assure you-”

An owl hoots and flies in through the window, dropping a letter onto the other contractor’s head. Keith’s eyes widen in fear at Jonathan’s murderous gaze locked on Keith before running back into the kitchen. Keith goes to yell at Chulatt, but she simply gives him an apologetic expression before snapping her fingers and poofing away.

“I think we’ve learned enough about your establishment today,” one of the contractors says from the living room. “You are not ready to expand the home due to the miscreants you have in this current one.”

Keith hears footsteps leading towards the front door and the door slam shut.

_ Uh oh. _

Keith makes a beeline for the stairs and starts running up them.

“NOT SO FAST KOGANE!” Jonathan yells. He walks to where Keith is frozen in fear on the staircase and rips open the letter. He begins reading it out loud. “ _ The use of magic by underage wizards is forbidden to be used outside of school. _ ” Jonathan crumples up the paper in his hand and glares at Keith. “You little ingrate! You are grounded for an eternity after this stunt you pulled! GO TO YOUR ROOM NOW!”

Keith runs up the stairs and slams his door shut. He jumps onto his bed and hides underneath the covers, terrified.  The door flies open and Jonathan tosses Red into the room before finally slamming the door shut.

Keith begins to weep to himself. At first the cries are stifled in a futile attempt to hide his sorrows, but once Red hops onto the bed in front of him, he breaks down entirely. He allows Red into his arms when she nudges against them. He sobs loudly into her fur, falling back onto the bed.

Why does the world hate him? What did he do wrong to deserve this?

Red meows loudly and nuzzles her head against Keith’s cheeks, wiping the tears away. Keith continues to cry, working himself up so much that it gets harder to breathe. She begins purring, lulling him to sleep while reassuring him that he’s safe with her.

Before Keith can drift off, a hammer begins pounding on his door, scaring him awake. “STOP CRYING YOU INGRATE! YOU DON’T DESERVE TO FEEL SORRY FOR YOURSELF!” Jonathan yells from the hallway.

“What a loser! You have locks on your door now!” Caleb cackles from the hallway once the hammering stops.

Keith gently sets Red down next to him and walks over to the door, attempting to open the door, but isn’t surprised to find it locked. He sighs turns around, leaning against the door. Silent tears fall down Keith’s cheeks as he slides down against the door onto the floor. Keith pulls his knees up to his chest and puts his head between his knees. He whimpers, wondering what he did wrong and wondering why Chulatt would do this to him.

Did she truly not want him to return to Hogwarts? Keith needs to go back there because the people he loves are there. He wants to see Slav and Allura again. He wants to spend more time with Coran and Matt.

But, most importantly, he wants to see his friends. He misses Hunk, Pidge, and Lance. They’re the only people who haven’t abandoned Keith. They’re the only ones who-

_ BANG _

Keith jumps, startled again when he hears pounding outside his window. He hurries to his feet and goes over to the window where he finds Jonathan putting up bars.

Keith has finally reached an all-time low.

He sits back down on his bed and stares at the ground. He wants to cry, but there’s nothing left inside of him to cry. Keith sighs. flopping down on his bed again. He crawls under the covers and lays on his back, staring at the ceiling. Red walks onto his chest and sits down, tilting her head at him. Keith smiles at her, scratching her behind the ear. “At least I still have you.”

Red meows and lays down on him, nuzzling her head against Keith’s cheek. Keith kisses her head and closes his eyes, hoping he can escape from this horrible reality in his dreams.

As he begins to drift, he dreams of being in a small cage. Caleb, the other muggle foster kids, Damien, Bethany, and all the kids who have been mean to Keith stand around him, laughing.

They start banging on the bars of the cage and yelling taunts at him. They call him a worthless, pathetic mudblood who never should’ve been born.

The sounds and insults become too much for Keith and he wakes up scared and in tears. Red immediately jumps up and hisses, ready to attack whatever is hurting Keith. She whips her head around, almost glaring at the window. Red pauses a moment before meowing happily, hopping onto the nightstand. She starts whining and pawing at the window.

“Hello beautiful! Did you miss me?” a familiar voice asks from outside the open window.

Keith whirls around and scrambles out of the bed to the open window. He smiles happily through the tears at the smiling face of his best friend from Hogwarts…

Lance McClain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chulatt is so cute I love her so much. I love all the mice in general and I hope to incorporate all of them into it somehow. Chapter 3 is currently being written and should be up either at the end of this week or sometime early next week.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com)


	3. A Daring Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Late in the night, Lance, along with his brother Carlos and his brother's friend, Ryland, make a surprise visit to Keith's foster home and find him trapped in his room! They immediately make it their mission to rescue Keith from this place before sunrise. Lance helps Keith pack his clothes while Carlos and Ryland sneak in the house to grab Keith's other magical items that were locked in the closet.
> 
> Will they succeed? Or will they be caught?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on this chapter! I was in a bit of a funk, but I think I'm out of it.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Keith giggles happily, still crying, and walks up to the screen of the window to get a better look. He sees Lance inside a car suspended midair being driven (flown?) by Lance’s older brother, Marco McClain with his friend Ryland McGivney in the passenger’s seat.

“Lance! What are you doing here?” Keith wonders, wiping the tears off his cheeks.

“I got worried because whenever Blue came back from your foster home, she didn’t have a letter. I mentioned in my last letter if I didn’t hear back, I was going to kidnap you from the foster home, but now I think I should call it a rescue,” Lance shares. He squints and leans closer to the window. “You’re crying! Why are you crying? Wait, that’s a dumb question - I’m going to ask why these bars are up!”

“The foster father put them up after an incident that I’ll tell you about later,” Keith says.

“Ryland, grab the rope out of the glove box. We’re gonna rip these bars off the window,” Carlos orders. Ryland fumbles around with something in the passenger’s seat before finally finding some. Carlos takes it and hands it to Lance. “Tie one end of this to the bars.” He turns back to Ryland. “You carefully climb onto the car so Lance can hand you the other side to tie to the bumper.” Carlos finally turns to Keith. “Keith, I need you to get all your stuff packed up and ready to go.”

“I can pack my clothes in my trunk, but I can’t get to my actual magic stuff. The foster father locked all of it in the closet under the stairs…not to mention he literally locked me in here,” Keith says while Lance and Ryland tie the rope to the bars and car bumper.

Carlos sighs. “Of course he did! Alright, Ryland and I will take care of that after we get these bars off the door…ready guys?”

“You bet!” Ryland exclaims as he climbs back into the car.

Keith watches as Carlos turns the car so the back end is facing Keith and begins flying away. Once the rope becomes taut, the car stops moving. Keith hears the engine rev as Carlos steps on the gas pedal.

Bolts begin popping out of the wall from the bars. They strain and scrape against the holes until they finally tear off the wall. The rope snaps and the bars land in the bushes down below with a loud thud. Keith cringes, knowing someone’s bound to wake up soon.

Carlos turns the car back around and moves it closer to the window. “Lance, go through the window and help Keith pack his trunk while Ryland and I deal with his other stuff,” Carlos orders.

Lance nods and begins to get out of the car. He holds his hand out to Keith for him to grab. Keith grabs the edge of the wall by the window with his right hand and holds out his left to Lance. “I got you, Lance.”

He nods and grabs Keith’s hand and steps forward, placing his foot on the shutter below. Lance begins shifting his weight, but a loud crack from the shutter makes him stop. “Uh oh!” Lance exclaims. “Keith, pull me in!”

Keith grunts, but manages to successfully pull Lance through the window. Both boys tumble to the ground, Lance landing on top of Keith. They look at each other in surprise before giggling quietly.

“Be back in ten!” Carlos exclaims as he drives the car around to the front of the house.

Lance gets up off Keith and extends a hand to help him up. Keith accepts Lance’s hand then goes into his closet to pull his trunk out. He opens it and begins putting clothes from his dresser inside. Lance sits on the ground and plays with Red a bit. “I missed her so much,” Lance shares with a giggle when Red licks his nose.

“Wow…I’m hurt to know you missed my cat more than me,” Keith replies sarcastically as he empties out the first drawer.

“Oh, of course I missed you too Keith,” Lance replies, finally standing up to help Keith. “But Red is nicer to me so obviously I’d miss her more.”

Keith glares at Lance. “You come to rescue me just so you could insult me some more?”

Lance giggles. “I’m kidding! Give me a hug you jerk.” He pulls Keith into a tight hug, wrapping his arms tightly around Keith’s neck.

Keith chuckles, but hugs Lance back, resting his chin on Lance’s shoulder. “Thank you,” Keith whispers, “for saving me.”

Lance releases Keith and smiles at him. “Of course, Keith! Now, let’s finish packing your trunk.”

Together, Keith and Lance manage to pack up all Keith’s clothes and other non-magical belongings into the trunk and move it beside the window. After a couple more seconds, they hear the car fly back around to the front and hear Carlos and Ryland laughing.

Keith raises an eyebrow. “What did you two do?”

“Left a little surprise for the foster father when he opens the closet door to look for your stuff,” Carlos replies, still laughing. “I’ll turn the car around so you can put the trunk in the trunk.”

Ryland laughs harder. “TRUNK IN THE TRUNK!”

The two older boys high five each other before Carlos turns the car around and puts the back of the car right by the window. Lance opens the trunk and, together, he and Keith lift the trunk and place it between Keith’s cauldron and schoolbooks. Keith places Red’s bed on top before Lance slams the trunk shut. They wait for Carlos to turn the car around again so he and Lance can get in the backseat. Lance climbs through the window and collapses face first into the backseat. Ryland and Carlos roar with laughter again and continue to laugh even after Lance punches them both.

Keith rolls his eyes at them and picks up Red from the bed. He’s not surprised to find that she wandered back there and fell asleep. He carefully lifts her up and starts walking over to the window, trying not to jostle her…but that’s exactly what he does.

Red opens her eyes and meows very loudly, complaining about being woken up. “I’m sorry, Red, but we have to leave,” Keith apologizes as he passes her off to Lance through the window.

Keith begins to climb out, but the locks on his door start moving, scaring him into almost falling out the window. He turns back and sees a furious Jonathan glaring at him. “YOU LITTLE INGRATE! GET BACK IN HERE!”

Keith screams and turns back to Lance, holding his hands out to him. Lance quickly hands Red off to Ryland and grabs Keith’s arms, pulling him into the car. “Come on Keith!” he exclaims.

“OH NO YOU DON’T!” Jonathan yells, grabbing onto Keith’s foot.

Keith shrieks again. “NO! LET ME GO!”

Carlos’s eyes widen in fear. “What the hell is his problem!?”

“DRIVE AWAY!” Ryland and Lance yell at him.

Keith begins kicking at Jonathan with his free foot. “LET GO OF ME!” He feels Lance’s grip tighten on his hands as Carlos begins to pull away. Keith lands a kick to Jonathan’s nose and he releases Keith’s foot.

Lance yanks Keith into the car before he can fall out. Keith slams the door shut and Carlos takes off into the night sky, leaving a yelling Jonathan behind. Keith looks out the rear windshield, out of breath. “I can’t believe that worked!”

“McClains never give up,” Carlos states from the driver’s seat. “I’m sorry you have to deal with that idiot, Keith. What the hell was Shiro thinking by putting you in there?”

Keith turns back to the front and puts his seat belt on. “I don’t think Shiro intended for that. It’s just close to him so if anything happens, he can get me right away.”

Lance scoffs. “Well he seems to really care about you. If I were him, I wouldn’t let you stay in that horrible situation.”

“Lance, you know why Shiro can’t adopt me,” Keith replies, defending Shiro. “They can’t find my parents’ bodies.”

“So? I’d take you in anyway. Screw the legal stuff, no one should be treated like that.” Lance turns and looks out the window, arms crossed.

Keith looks back at the ground. Maybe Lance had a point…why didn’t Shiro just take Keith in his house? He didn’t need to live at that dumb foster home. What gives? Does Shiro even care about him?

Keith internally rolls his eyes. Maybe Shiro just doesn’t want to deal with him. Yeah, that sounds right. Jonathan didn’t want to deal with Keith so why would Shiro? Lance made the effort to remove Keith from the toxic situation. Heck, even Pidge wanted to remove Keith! She woulda had Matt knocking down the door and rescuing him in a moment’s notice!

Whatever. Keith doesn’t need Shiro to get through the school year. He has the McClains and Holts on his side.

“So, Keith, where’d you get this cat? She’s so precious!” Ryland exclaims from the passenger’s seat.

Keith leans forward and sees Red sleeping soundly in Ryland’s arms. “Oh, I found her on the streets one day. She was just a little kitten so I brought her to Shiro and he helped me nurse her back to health. She’s been with me ever since.”

“Aww…that’s so sad!” Ryland exclaims.

“Yeah, I don’t like people who treat animals poorly…” Keith trails off, thinking back to Chulatt and how she hurt herself whenever she heard someone talk badly about her masters. “Actually, people who treat anyone poorly in general suck.”

“Does that apply to that stupid foster dad?” Carlos wonders.

“Yeah, but that’s not my point. Have you guys heard of house mice?” Keith asks.

“Oh yeah, they usually belong to old, wealthy pureblood wizard families,” Carlos replies. “My family is an exception because my mom didn’t like the way wizards usually treated their house mice.”

“Well, one visited me today and when I was nice to her, she started crying and told me she never was viewed as an equal to a wizard before,” Keith shares. “When I said she mustn't know many nice wizards, she started hitting her head against my nightstand. She told me she does that whenever she hears negative things of her masters or whenever she speaks poorly of them. I think she might belong to either Damien’s family or Bethany’s family.”

Lance scoffs. “Sounds about right. They treat everyone badly…I’m sure their house mice get the worst of it.”

“She told me she didn’t want me returning to Hogwarts this year so she kept all my mail from you, Hunk, and Pidge! She said it was to make me think you guys hated me so I wouldn’t want to return!” Keith exclaims. “Damien or Bethany must’ve sent her to stop me from coming back.”

“What?! That’s so lame!” Lance exclaims. “Well, you’re gonna go back and punch them both in the face.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask, Lance said you punched Bethany last year, but I don’t believe him,” Carlos says. “Is this true?”

Keith giggles and nods. “Yep! She had to go to the hospital wing because her nose broke!”

Carlos laughs. “Wow…I underestimated you, Keith.”

“Back to the sabotage issue, the Morrisons and Mathesis were both loyal followers of You-Know-Who,” Ryland interjects.

“They were Galra Phantoms?!” Lance asks, shocked. “I knew they were awful people, but I didn’t think they could get any worse!”

“I’m glad I could prove you wrong,” Ryland replies with a smug expression.

Before Lance can start an argument with Ryland, Keith changes the subject. “So how do you guys have a flying car?”

“Oh! Isa got a job at the Ministry in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department where she reverses the damage caused when bewitched muggle objects do strange and dangerous things,” Carlos shares. “She bought the car so she could tinker with it and put spells on it.”

Lance sputters. “You lying sack of crap! Tell the truth! Isa would never do something like this!”

Carlos rolls his eyes. “Fine.  _ I’m _ the one who bewitched the car to fly, but Isa wasn’t mad about it. You’re just jealous I’m allowed to do magic at the house and you can’t.”

Keith chuckles as Lance and Carlos continue to bicker on their car ride back to the McClain house. The sun begins to peak on the horizon once they arrive at Lance’s neighborhood. Keith looks out the window and smiles widely. The McClain house is in a rural area with plenty of open fields surrounding the house. The other houses are spread out away from each other, but there’s one house right near Lance’s and Keith concludes that one to be Hunk’s.

Carlos lands the car on the road and drives into the driveway. The four boys walk to the trunk of the car to grab Keith’s stuff. Ryland can’t grab much since he still has Red in his arms. Lance grabs Keith’s wand from the trunk and hands it to him so it doesn’t get crushed. Carlos grunts as he lifts Keith’s trunk of clothes out of the back of the car so Lance and Keith can grab the other stuff in there.

Once the trunk is empty, the four boys make their way to the front door and walk in. Keith’s eyes widen at the big interior of the house. He thought the foster home was big, but this house puts it to shame. To Keith’s left is a large living room with the dining room immediately connected to it. To the right is another room with a large fireplace and more seats. In front of Keith is a large staircase on both sides that meets at the middle with a railing so someone can look down at the foyer.

Carlos sets Keith’s trunk down and looks around. “Well, I’m surprised Isa isn’t awake to yell at us. Usually she-”

“¡Ahí están idiotas!” a woman exclaims, suddenly at the top of the stairs, glaring down at them. She has slightly lighter skin than Lance does. Her long brown hair goes well beyond her shoulders and stops at about her elbows. Her facial expression shows anger and rage, but her light brown eyes show worry and concern.

“¿No nota? ¿No carro? ¡Yo pensé que los habían secuestrado!” she yells, making her way down the stairs. “¡¿Cuántas veces te e dicho que no se aden escabullirse?! ¡Habías poder muetro! ¿Porque? ¿Eh? ¡Yo debería y castigarte pro vida!” She quickly makes her way down the stairs, but stops when she sees Keith. “Oh, you must be Keith! Lance has told me so much about you!” Keith gets a better look at her face and notices a dark freckle on her left cheek, but it doesn’t take away from how stunning she is.

“¡Isa! Cállate!” Lance exclaims.

“¡No, tu cállate, señorito! ¡Estaba preocupada por ti!” She continues to yell rapid Spanish at them and Keith can no longer make out any words.

Keith turns to Ryland to see if he’s understanding any of it, but he simply shrugs. This must be Isabella McClain, Lance’s oldest sister. Lance has marveled to him and Pidge about her and everything she’s done for the family. He really seems to admire her…even if she yells at them like this.

“Isa, my favorite older sister, you love us too much to tell dad,” Carlos says with a smile.

Isa crosses her arms and smirks. “Alright, in exchange for my silence, you have to de-gnome the garden.

“Aww what!? No fair!” Lance complains, stomping his foot.

“I don’t wanna hear it. Get your butts moving before I kick them!” Isa yells.

Ryland chuckles. “Haha! Sucks for you two!”

“Oh, that includes you too, mister,” Isa says, turning to Ryland.

“What?! I’m not even part of this family!” Ryland exclaims.

Lance smirks at him. “Try telling Lucy that.”

Isa nods at Lance then turns to Ryland. “Your move.”

Ryland rolls his eyes then passes Isa the cat. “Fine! You get to hold the cat then!”

Red meows, irritated to be woken up again. She turns to Isa and tilts her head in confusion, pressing a paw to Isa’s cheek.

“Hello to you too?” Isa turns to Keith. “Is this yours?”

Keith chuckles and nods. “Yep. Her name is Red.”

Red meows loudly again, nuzzles against Isa’s chin, then hops down from her hold. She trots up to Keith and brushes against his leg before flopping on the ground and biting his foot.

“Ow!” Keith exclaims, jumping away from her. “Hey!”

Red meows, almost sounding like laughter, and stands back up. She meows loudly again and sits down and licks her paw. Isa laughs loudly. “Oh my god I love her.”

Keith rolls his eyes. “She’s a jerk. I-”

A screech from upstairs interrupts Keith. Soon enough, Blue, Lance’s owl, flies down the stairs and lands on the ground next to Red, nuzzling up against her. Red meows happily and runs in circles around Blue before following her upstairs.

Isa turns to Keith. “I see they’re friends.”

“More like traitors,” Keith replies. “Anyway, what’s de-gnoming?”

Isa chuckles. “Why don’t you go out back and find out? I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.” She smiles kindly at him. “I’ll bring your stuff up to Lance’s room, go have fun.”

“Thanks Isa!” Keith exclaims, hurrying through the living room and dining room to the back-slider doors. He walks onto the deck and looks around for Lance, Carlos, and Ryland, unaware of a flying gnome coming right at Keith’s head.

“KEITH! DUCK!” Lance’s voice screams.

Keith turns and yelps, collapsing to the ground before the gnome hits him. Ryland’s head pops up from the bushes. “Sorry about that Keith! These things are the worst!”

Keith walks off the deck just in time to see Ryland yank out a squirming gnome from the dirt. He struggles with it for a second before chucking it into the field way behind the house. “Beat that Carlos!” Ryland yells over to Carlos. “I was always a better Chaser than you!”

Carlos laughs. “I’m gonna make you eat those words!” Carlos yanks one out of the ground and throws it across the field, probably landing farther than Ryland’s. Carlos turns and smirks at Ryland. “Told you!”

Keith snickers at their bickering and walks over to where Lance is. “Hey, so what exactly are you doing?”

Lance sighs. “Every time the summer comes to an end, these stupid gnomes come into our yard and eat all of our vegetables we grow so Isa and my dad have us pull them out and throw them into the field back there. We have to look in these holes in the yard and-” he pauses to yank one out of the ground. Keith grimaces, getting a closer look at it. They look like misshapen jumbo potatoes that someone hit with a stick several times. The little thing yells and squirms in Lance’s hand before he flings it into the field- “chuck that sucker away!”

“Can I try?” Keith asks.

Lance nods and steps aside. “Be my guest.”

Keith smiles at him before kneeling on the ground, peering into a couple of holes in the ground. He spots movement in one of them and plunges his hand in the hole before yanking a gnome out. Keith giggles when it tries to bite his hand. “See ya later gnome!” He stands up and launches the gnome far, far off into the field.

Carlos and Ryland turn to Keith, jaws slackened. “Dude, how did you throw it that far?!” Carlos demands.

Keith shrugs. “I honestly don’t know.”

Lance jumps to his feet. “I bet Keith and I can find more gnomes than you AND throw them farther!”

Carlos smirks mischievously. “You’re on, munch!”

Keith spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon de-gnoming the lawn with Ryland, Carlos, and Lance. Eventually they got bored of simply just throwing the gnomes so they turned it into a game. Carlos went inside and grabbed Lucy’s and Hannah’s Beater clubs and they used those to knock the gnomes into the field. Carlos, Keith, and Ryland whiffed the first few tosses they got whenever it was their turn to hit a gnome, but eventually got the hang of it. Lance, on the other hand, was a natural at it. Ryland commented he should try out for a Beater position on Gryffindor’s Quidditch team, telling him to beat out Hannah. Lance brushed it off, saying he couldn’t be that good, but Keith and Carlos agreed with Ryland.

Once the sun starts to set, Isa calls them inside for dinner. Lance declares himself and Keith the winners, but Ryland and Carlos refuse to admit they lost.

When the four boys head inside for dinner, Lucy squeals loudly and rushes over to Keith to hug him tightly. “Keith! I didn’t know you’d be coming over today!” She giggles and picks him up, spinning him around. “Wow you’re light! How’ve you been?! I missed you so much!”

Keith smiles at her when she sets him down. “Uh, well the summer sucked until Lance, Carlos, and Ryland came and got me from the foster home.”

“It was madness over there! Bars were on Keith’s window! His door was locked from the outside!” Lance exclaims. “It’s like he was in Beta Traz!”

Lucy gasps. “That’s awful!”

“And Professor Shirogane just let it happen?” Hannah asks skeptically from the kitchen. “That’s really dumb.”

Keith shrugs. “Whatever…I don’t know what Shiro was thinking, but I’m happy to be here.”

Hannah smirks and ruffles Keith’s hair. “Well, we’re happy to have you. You’re better to have around than Ryland.”

“Hey! Shut up Hannah!” Ryland exclaims. “I didn’t know that was your tub of ice cream!”

Hannah shrugs. “The damage has been done, McGivney…I’m still plotting my revenge.”

The front door opens and shuts. “Kids! I’m home!” Luis McClain exclaims from the foyer.

“HI DAD!” Lance yells, causing everyone to wince. “WE’RE IN THE KITCHEN!”

“Lance, indoor voice,” Isa scolds.

“I THINK I WENT DEAF!” Ryland yells.

“WHAT’S THAT?! I CAN’T HEAR YOU!” Carlos yells in reply.

Hannah rolls her eyes, but joins in the yelling. “YOU BOTH ARE INSUFFERABLE!”

“WHAT?!” Ryland and Carlos yell in unison at her.

Luis walks into the kitchen and finds Lance, Keith, and Lucy laughing at Hannah, Ryland, and Carlos all yelling at each other. Isa exchanges a tired expression with Luis before whistling loudly. “ENOUGH! Sit at the table before I glue all your mouths shut!” Isa scolds.

Luis looks around. “Where’s Marco?”

Lucy scoffs. “In his room, as usual. I can go get him if you want.”

Luis nods. “If he still refuses to come out and have dinner with us, well, then let him be. I don't know what's gotten into him.”

Lucy shrugs then walks out of the room towards the staircase. Once she's gone, Luis turns to Isa and crosses his arms. “You and I have things to discuss, young lady. If I knew you were going to bewitch that car so it could fly, I never would've allowed you to get it. You're a grown woman for god’s sake…have a sense of responsibility.”

Isa opens her mouth to protest, but her gaze flickers to Carlos so she stops. “I'm sorry I let you down, dad.”

Luis sighs. “I am too.” He yawns after another few seconds. “I'll just take my plate up to my room. I’m very tired after dealing with work.” He turns to Keith. “It's lovely to have you over, Keith. I'm sorry you had to see that.”

“It’s okay, sir,” Keith replies stiffly.

Luis smiles warmly at him before grabbing a plate of food and heading upstairs. Lance taps Keith's shoulder. “You don't need to fear my dad,” Lance whispers. “He's the nicest man you'll ever meet.”

Keith nods. “Right, sor-”

Lance covers Keith's mouth with his hand. “Don't apologize! You're not gonna get whacked with a stick if you do something wrong! Come on, let's get food!” He leads Keith into the kitchen where Carlos and Isa are arguing.

“Why did you cover for me!? Now dad’s pissed at you for something you didn't do!” Carlos exclaims. “What gives!?”

Isa sets down her fork and glares at Carlos. “Because you're my little brother, Carlos. I have to protect you.” She looks at the ground, long brown hair falling in her face. “Besides, dad can't punish me anymore.”

Keith watches Ryland and Hannah exchange a nervous expression before grabbing their food and hastily making their way out of the kitchen. Keith looks at Lance, but he seems to be enthralled by the conversation, so it looks like they're staying.

“I'm not a little kid anymore, Isa! I can take care of myself!” Carlos exclaims.

Isa crosses her arms and looks back up at him. “Oh really? You still do childish things, Carlos. You can't grow up. You're always plotting elaborate schemes with Ryland and your other friends, but, when it comes down to it, they're gonna move on and plan to start a family. Ryland has a girlfriend who he loves very much and is probably planning his future with her.” She sighs at Carlos’s upset expression. “Carlos, I just want what's best for you.” Isa walks up to him and goes to hug him, but Carlos backs away from her.

“I don't need you babying me,  _ Isabella _ . Clearly, I'm a hopeless case to you, but you'll see. I'll be out of the house before you!” Carlos snaps at her. He glares at his plate of food then back at Isa. “Suddenly I'm no longer hungry.” He brushes past Isa and storms out of the kitchen.

Isa bites her lip and closes her eyes, clearly upset. Lance looks at Keith before walking over to his big sister. He grabs her hand and gives it a squeeze. “Isa? Are you okay?” Lance wonders.

She kneels in front of Lance. “I'm okay, Lance.”

“I don't believe you.” Lance releases her hand and hugs her, wrapping his arms around Isa’s neck. “You know, you don't always have to be like mom. She wouldn't want you to do that.” He rests his head on her shoulder. “I miss mom, but I miss my big sister too.”

Keith raises his eyebrows when Lance says that. He expects Isa to scold him or something, but he's surprised when her firm expression fades away and tears start rolling down her cheeks. Isa wraps her arms around Lance and holds him tightly. She runs her fingers through his hair. “You're a good kid, Lance. Don't ever change, please.” She releases him and smiles at him. “I love you.”

Lance giggles and wipes the tears of Isa’s cheeks. “I love you too, Isa!”

Isa kisses Lance’s forehead and stands up. She looks at Keith. “You picked a good kid to be friends with.”

Keith smiles fondly at Lance. “Technically he came to me first. I was just some loner fighting a troll.”

Lance smiles widely. “Then I showed up and we became friends! We bonded over trolls!”

“Oh, so now you remember?” Keith asks, eyebrow raised.

“I uh-” Lance swipes his plate of food before taking off through the house- “GOTTA GO!”

Keith laughs and gets his own plate of food ready. “Did he go up to his room?”

Isa nods and ruffles Keith's hair. “Yeah. It's down the right hallway and is the last room on the left.”

Keith nods in thanks and walks back to the foyer and up the right stairwell. He passes the bathroom and a bedroom. Keith peers in and concludes it must be Lucy’s room due to the fact pictures of her and Ryland are on one of the walls. Keith continues down the hallway and passes a closed door where he hears muffled voices talking. That one must be Marco’s.

Keith hurries past it, not wanting to eavesdrop before arriving at Lance’s room. He walks in and chuckles at the posters of the Bulgarian Quidditch team that line the walls. The room is very large compared to Keith's room. It has two windows - one in about the same place where Keith's is and one on the right wall. Lance’s bed is in the left corner of the room while a desk is in the right corner.  A blow-up mattress is propped up against the wall by the closet, probably for Keith to sleep on. Keith's trunk and other belongings are tucked away in the corner by the door. A sky-blue rug lays in the middle of the room where Lance is currently on, reading something. Keith looks over at the desk where a bird cage is placed on a shelf above and Red’s bed is on the actual desk part. Blue and Red are cuddling with each other in Red’s bed.

“I see they missed each other,” Keith comments, taking a seat next to Lance on the floor. He begins eating his dinner (something that tastes better than anything he got at the foster home).

Lance chuckles. “You have no idea. I came in here and they were like that.” He suddenly jumps away from Keith, startled. “Uh! Sorry about the messy room!”

Keith chuckles. “It's fine, Lance. I don't like the team choice, but I love your room. I like the stars that you put on the ceiling.”

Lance leans back and lays on the ground. “Yeah. That's my favorite part too.”

Keith sets his food down and lays next to Lance. “I wasn't allowed to put anything up in my room so this is a nice change.” He pauses for a moment. “Thank you for getting me from that place.” Keith feels his cheeks heat up a bit. “It means a lot.”

Lance chuckles. “Don't mention it, you woulda done the same for me!” He yawns. “Anyway, we should hurry up and finish our food. I'm tired and I want to go over to Hunk’s tomorrow.” He smiles at turns to Keith. “He's gonna lose it when he finds out you're here.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4 should be up by the end of the week or next week. I'm moving into my dorm and have marching band tryouts so we'll see if I get time to write.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are appreciated!  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com)


	4. Knockturn (Diagon?) Alley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith continues to enjoy his time at Lance's house playing Quidditch and messing around with his family. They take a trip to Diagon Alley and meet the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor!
> 
> What could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> College has been so interesting. My roommate came back drunk lol. College is a wild place folks, but be smart and you should be fine.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Keith thoroughly enjoys his week at Lance’s house. No one yells at him for not helping around the house or not doing some chores. Honestly, he spends most of his time with Lance outside. He and Hunk take Keith to their all-time favorite spots in the dense trees behind Lance’s house. They refer to it as their “castle,” but it’s basically an old tree house built way up in one of the bigger trees. Lance tells Keith his dad built it when they moved to this neighborhood after Lance was born. Inside the treehouse, Keith finds a lot of drawings he and Hunk made when they were little, but, since Luis built it so high, they’re able to see over all the treetops at the fast forest. Keith could see himself spending a lot of time here…well, that is if he lived here. To get up to the tall balcony, one must climb a ladder from the base of the treehouse. The main part (base) is covered with a roof and has little entryways to access the sides of the wooden rails that look out at the ground.

Lance and Keith find themselves coming out here together a lot the days after Keith was introduced to it.

A few days after, letters arrive via Owl Post with information on what books the students will need for the next school year. Keith laughs when Hannah complains about Lucy getting new books for their sixth year and when Lucy and Lance high five each other. Lucy and Lance made a deal with each other that he’d get all of Lucy’s old books once he enrolled in Hogwarts. Marco was not happy when he found out they made that deal and tried to complain, but Lance said their dad wouldn’t budge on the decision since they’re technically Lucy’s books. Keith needs to buy new books regardless since he’s an only child, but is happy he’ll get to go to Diagon Alley with the McClains.

Keith, Lance, Hunk, Ryland, and the rest of Lance’s siblings (aside from Marco) spend the rest of that afternoon practicing Quidditch in a large field behind Hunk’s house before they travel to Diagon Alley the next day to buy their school supplies. Carlos and Ryland each take it upon themselves to make the teams since they both were captains of their respective Quidditch teams. Carlos’s team consists of Keith, Hannah, and Hunk. Instead of playing as the Seeker, Keith takes position as a Chaser while Hannah plays as the Beater and Hunk plays as the Keeper. Ryland’s team consists of Lance, Lucy, and Isa. Ryland and Lucy play as the Chasers, thus allowing Lance to be the Beater (he basically begged Lucy to let him do it). Isa plays as the Keeper because, back when she attended Hogwarts, she was one of the best Keepers Gryffindor and probably Hogwarts ever had.

They create some makeshift goal posts and start the game. Lance exchanges a smirk with Keith. “You ready to lose Kogane?!” Lance yells from where he is in the air. “Ain’t no Snitch here for you to find!”

Keith returns the smirk. “I don’t need a Snitch to win a Quidditch game, McClain. Are you ready to eat those words?”

“The only thing I’ll be eating is sweet victory after we kick your collective asses!” Lance exclaims.

“Language, Lance!” Isa scolds from the goal posts. She flies over between the two sets of Chasers. “Alright, I’m gonna toss the Quaffle up. There is only one Bludger since we don’t have a full team out here.” She turns to Hunk. “You ready!?”

Hunk gives a thumbs up from where he is. He didn’t want to be the Keeper at first, but Carlos and Keith managed to convince him to do it.

Isa turns back forward and tosses the Quaffle up into the air before quickly flying back to her position. Ryland flies up to catch it, but Keith beats him to it and starts flying towards the goal posts. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Lance whack the Bludger towards him. Keith quickly passes to Carlos and attempts to dodge the Bludger, but it hits the end of his broom, causing him to almost tip over.

“Nice one Lance!” Ryland exclaims, intercepting Keith’s pass to Carlos. He zooms forward, easily dodging Hannah’s attempt at hitting the Bludger towards him. He chucks it towards one of the goalposts, expecting it to go in, but is surprised when Hunk makes the save.

Keith cheers. “YEAH HUNK!”

Hunk smiles widely at Keith and throws him the Quaffle when he flies by. Keith turns back forward and narrowly dodges out of the way of the Bludger sent by Lance. He flies past Lance and goes to throw in the far-left post, but changes at the last second and scores on Isa.

Carlos yells and cheers loudly. “OH, HELL YEAH! KEITH BROKE THROUGH THE IRON WALL! HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE RIGHT HERE FOLKS!”

Isa glares at him. “What, are you Matthew Holt now? Chill out, I’ve been out of the game for a few years…I’m just warming up.”

Carlos scoffs. “Excuses, excuses. Keith isn’t even a Chaser! He’s the Slytherin Seeker!”

Isa rolls her eyes. “Yeah, well Lance has been doing a great job keeping you in check.”

Carlos whirls around and looks at Lance. “Yeah! Dude, you should totally try out this year!”

“Uh!  _ Excuse _ me!? Gryffindor already has two Beaters…don’t get his hopes up, Carlos,” Hannah retorts.

Carlos smirks. “Scared he could beat you out?”

Hannah opens her mouth to reply, but she closes it. Keith sees Lance’s eyes widen. “Look, guys, I’m not that talented…” he trails off.

Keith flies over right next to him and elbows him gently. “Don’t sell yourself short, Lance. You’re really good! If you don’t get the Beater position, I’m sure you’ll get an emergency sub position.”

Lance turns to Keith with a hopeful smile. “You think it’s possible?”

“Yes!” everyone exclaims in unison.

Lance sighs. “Fine, but only if Hunk tries out as Keeper.”

Hunk sputters. “ _ What?! _ Don’t drag me into this! I’m not that good! Besides, I’m only a second year…they’re not gonna let a second year be the Keeper.”

Keith crosses his arms. “They let a first year be the Seeker.”

Carlos nods. “And Ravenclaw let a second year be their center Chaser.”

“We took a second year as a Beater last year. Sophia is on her way to being one of the greatest Beaters Hogwarts has ever produced,” Ryland shares. He winces and looks over at Lucy. “Sweetie, I-”

Lucy chuckles. “I know, Ryland. Sophia is really good.”

Isa smirks. “Hunk, you might be able to take my title. I mean Keith was able to score on me and he isn’t even a Chaser.”

Hunk groans. “Ugh! Fine! I’ll do it!”

Everyone cheers for Lance and Hunk before heading inside for dinner. Keith and Lance say goodbye to Hunk as he walks out the door back to his house. Lance leads Keith into the kitchen and they get their plates ready - Luis grilled burgers for everyone.

After getting his food, Keith waits for Lance to finish arguing with Marco in Spanish. They’re speaking too quickly for Keith to pick up any coherent words. Their bickering doesn’t stop until Isa tells them to “cállate” - Keith assumes that means shut up or something because both boys quiet down.

Lance leads Keith back up to his room so they can eat their dinner in peace. When they get up there, they find Blue and Red snuggling with each other in Red’s cat bed again. Lance snickers at them then whistles, waking them both up. Red meows loudly, clearly annoyed then jumps off the bed and right up to Lance. She plops down and paws at his leg, meowing again. Lance kneels and sets down his food before scooping Red up into his arms. “Is someone upset I interrupted her bonding moment?”

Red meows again and nuzzles up against his chin. Keith smiles sadly at them then turns to his own food, suddenly not hungry anymore. He sighs and pushes his food away. Blue coos from her place on Red’s bed and flies over to Keith, landing in front of him. She tilts her head and nuzzles against his hand. “Hi Blue,” Keith greets her as he scratches her feathers. “How are you?”

She coos again and flies onto his shoulder. Keith turns to her and she blinks her big blue eyes at him. “You have pretty eyes.” Keith smiles.

“Aww, thanks Keith!” Lance replies with a smirk.

Keith’s cheeks turn slightly pink as he turns to Lance. “I wasn’t-”

Lance snickers. “Gotcha.”

Keith rolls his eyes. “Whatever. I’m gonna eat my burger then go to bed.” He reaches for his plate and picks up the burger before taking a big bite out of it.

“Boo! You’re no fun.” Lance giggles when Red licks his chin. “Stop it! You’re tickling me!” He topples over as Red continues to lick his chin and face. “RED!” He laughs loudly. Keith smiles at Lance then proceeds to start tickling him too. Blue flies over to her perch and watches her owner get attacked by Red and Keith. After a while, both boys grow tired and fall asleep next to each other on the floor. Before deep sleep overcame Keith, he feels Red walk onto his chest and curl up into a ball. Keith finds himself smiling as he finally drifts off.

The next morning, Keith and Lance wake with a start when they hear screaming from downstairs. Red hops off Keith and hisses at the door, ready to attack any intruder. “Red, sweetie, it’s okay,” Keith reassures her. He kisses her head then walks downstairs with Lance, each carrying their plates from dinner last night. They start walking down the stairs and begin to smell smoke.

More yelling comes from the kitchen causing them both to run faster. They walk into the kitchen and find Ryland and Carlos yelling as they frantically try to put out the fire they started on the omelets they were making.

They hear more screams from upstairs and someone running down the steps. “HANNAH GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!” Lucy screams.

Hannah runs into the kitchen wearing a tight, form fitting white dress that, in Keith’s opinion, is cut way too low around the neck. Carlos turns his attention from the fire to Hannah and narrows his eyes. “Whoa whoa whoa, what the hell do you think you’re wearing? You think I’m gonna let you go out in public like that?!”

Hannah crosses her arms. “You’re not dad, nimrod. Besides, this is Lucy’s dress. She-”

As if on cue, Lucy storms into the kitchen, still in her PJs. “You backstabbing two-time no good worthless-”

“Lucy! That’s no language to use right now!” Hannah exclaims.

“Take that off!” Lucy yells. “That’s  _ my _ dress!”

Hannah crosses her arms. “Why should I? What kind of things have you-”

“Aguamenti!” Luis exclaims from the doorway, aiming his wand at the omelet fire. A burst of water comes out of the tip of his wand, immediately washing the flames away. “Lance! Keith! Come with me, the rest of you figure this out before Isa finishes dealing with Marco or else all of you are grounded!” He grabs Lance’s and Keith’s arms and brings them into the living room by the giant fireplace. “Okay! Lance, would you like to explain to Keith how floo powder works?”

Lance smiles widely. “Hell yeah!”

Luis sighs. “Language.”

Lance ignores him and turns to Keith. “Okay, so what you do is you take a small handful of this stuff.” Lance grabs a fist full of black powder and steps into the fireplace. “Then you throw it on the ground and say where you wanna go.” He throws the powder on the ground then exclaims, “Diagon Alley!”

A puff of smoke appears and after it clears, Lance is gone. Luis pats Keith on the shoulder and gestures for him to go next. Keith nods and takes a fist full of the powder then steps into the fireplace. He raises his hand to throw the powder, but he inhales a bit of ash and coughs as he throws the powder, mumbling out, “Diagon Alley.”

Keith feels himself sort of dissolve into thin air and reappear on the floor of a dark shop. He glances around and sees a ton of dust on most of the trinkets. Evil-looking masks and human skulls sit on many of the shelves along with bottles of suspicious looking liquid. The door of the shop opens, causing a bell to ring. Keith scrambles to his feet and, not wanting to be seen, hides in a large cabinet just before the patrons walk to where Keith was.

“But father! It’s not fair stupid Keith Kogane gets to play for the Slytherin Quidditch team and I’m not! He isn’t even a pureblood!” a voice complains, sounding much like Damien Morrison, one of the two people Keith despises most at Hogwarts.

“Now, now, don’t appear unfond of the Kogane boy. Remember, he’s a hero of the wizarding world,” a man replies, probably Damien’s father, Sendak Morrison.

Keith hears shuffling from by the front desk then another unfamiliar voice, probably the shopkeeper. “Ah! Mr. Morrison! What can I do for you today?”

He hears the crinkling of a paper. “I have a list of items I must sell immediately…I can’t have the Ministry of Magic finding any of this in case they search my house.”

_ Why would they search his house? _ Keith thinks to himself. He freezes when he hears Damien walk right in front of the cabinet Keith’s hiding in.

“Why does that lame Ravenclaw girl, Katherine Holt get better grades than me? She isn’t even supposed to be in my grade!” he angrily sets down the skull he was holding. “It’s not fair!”

“You are a Morrison, Damien. You should be embarrassed of being surpassed by a girl who is two years younger than you,” Sendak scolds, unsympathetically.

“When can you bring these items here for me to give you the money?” the shopkeeper asks.

“Tomorrow afternoon.” Keith hears him snatch back the paper. “Come Damien, we have to buy your new books.”

Keith waits to step out of the cabinet until he hears the bell chime again and door slam shut. Once he does, he hurries out of the shop, ignoring the glare he receives from the shopkeeper. Once outside, he looks around for the familiar shops of Diagon Alley, but can’t find them. He only sees a bunch of stores he doesn’t recognize.

Before he can decide what to do next, someone calls his name. Keith turns and sees Slav Reed, Hogwarts’ gamekeeper, approaching him. “You should not be here.” He places one of his hands on Keith’s shoulder and guides him through the streets. “Knockturn Alley is not a place you want to be in, ever. Too many bad people shop here.”

“Why were you here?” Keith wonders.

“I needed supplies for a few of the animals back at school,” Slav replies as they arrive back into the familiar shops of Diagon Alley where Keith sees the McClains (aside from Marco), the Garetts, and Holts all waiting. Once Lance, Pidge, and Hunk see Keith, they hurry over to hug him.

“Where were you?! I was so scared when my dad appeared and you didn’t!” Lance exclaims.

“I guess the powder misunderstood me,” Keith replies, “but I’m okay now. Slav found me.” Lance nods, but still not budging from Keith’s side.

“Luis, Shiro will be meeting you all in front of Flourish and Botts to help Keith get what books he needs,” Slav informs.

Keith groans internally, not wanting to deal with Shiro since he’s the one who put Keith in that awful foster home. Seriously, what was he  _ thinking _ ?

Luis nods at Slav before he heads off to finish his shopping elsewhere. “Great, well, we should head into Gringotts to get what we need there.” He turns to Isa. “Will you get the amount we need out of our safe? I’ll help Keith.”

Isa nods and they head inside Gringotts, making their way to the vaults. Luis walks with Keith over to where his parents’ safe is and helps him withdraw the number of galleons he needs. Keith glances at the ground, brows slightly furrowed. “Mr. McClain, you don’t have to help me.”

Luis smiles sadly at Keith and ruffles his hair. “I have an obligation to. Did you know I was friends with your father?”

“Really?” Keith wonders. “Were you friends with my mother too?”

Luis’s breath hitches. “Yes, but that was a long time ago. I’d prefer if we didn’t talk about that anymore, I’m sorry. If you have any questions about your father, I’d be happy to answer those.”

Keith smiles at Luis and nods. “Thank you.” He knows better than to ask why he has an issue with Keith’s mom…something probably happened back when they were in school and they just hadn’t made amends. It was too late now anyway.

Luis pats Keith on the shoulder before walking out of Gringotts with him where everyone else is waiting. The large group makes their way over to Flourish and Botts where Allura and Shiro are waiting. Shiro smiles widely at Keith when he sees him, but Keith looks away, ignoring the confused expression on Shiro’s face. He smiles at Allura instead. “Hi Allura!” he exclaims.

“Hello Keith! How are you?” Allura asks, ruffling his hair.

“I’m great! Lance, Ryland, and Carlos rescued me from the foster home.” Keith smiles widely at Lance, who is chatting with Matt and Pidge.

Allura raises an eyebrow at looks at Shiro. “Did you know about this?”

“Luis gave me a call when he saw Keith at the house,” Shiro replies. “Keith, do you not like it there?”

“Since when do you care about that? It’s in a convenient location for you, so why do my feelings about it matter?” Keith asks, crossing his arms.

“Keith, you know I care about you,” Shiro says.

Keith shrugs. “Do you? Why haven’t you taken me in yet then?!”

“Your parents-” Shiro starts.

“No!” Keith yells, getting everyone’s attention. “Stop with that excuse! I know they’re gone, but that doesn’t answer why I can’t just live with you!”

Keith groans loudly and storms into Flourish and Botts, very irritated. He can’t deal with Shiro’s excuses anymore. He wants his last couple weeks before school to be enjoyable…talking with Shiro won’t make that happen.

The door opens behind him and Lance, Pidge, and Hunk walk in and over to him. Lance furrows his eyebrows at Keith. “Are you okay?”

Keith nods. “I’m fine…just drop it okay? I don’t want to talk about it.” He turns when he sees the rest of the adults walk in. Shiro tries to get Keith’s attention, but Keith ignores him.

“Why is it so crowded in here?” Lucy wonders, looking around.

“Oh! The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is here,” Shiro explains.

Allura scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Shiro, I still don’t know why you hired that buffoon.”

“He claims he’s the best at what he does and I’m gonna see if that’s true,” Shiro replies.

“Who could it - oh no…” Pidge trails off and sighs. “Not this guy…”

Keith turns around and sees a lot of middle-aged witches waiting in a long line for a large man at a table. He seems to be signing books for them.

“Who is that?” he wonders.

“Lubos Ito…he claims to be a great wizard who has gone on many adventures - most of which he writes about in his books. I believe these witches are waiting in line for a signed copy of his autobiography,” Allura explains. “I find the man repulsive.”

Pidge nods. “My mom  _ adores _ him. She’s in line right there.” Keith looks towards the front of the line where an average height woman with short brown hair is standing, smiling happily and clutching a book in her arms. “I don’t know why she does.”

Lance chuckles. “Maybe Matt can help us pull pranks on him.”

Matt perks up and slides over to Pidge, Lance, Hunk, and Keith. “I would totally be down with this. We-”

“Well, I’ll be darned! Is that Lance McClain and Keith Kogane I see?!” Lubos exclaims from his seat. “Boys, come! We must get a picture together!”

Keith sighs, immediately hating all the attention directed towards him, but begrudgingly allows Lubos to take a picture with him. Lubos puts his arms around his and Lance’s shoulder and smiles at one of the photographer’s cameras. “Smile boys!”

Keith glances over at Lance and sees him with a wide smile on his face, clearly loving the attention. He turns back to the camera and smiles a little, but, on the inside, would rather be laying on the ground, hoping to be trampled.

Once the photographer gets the picture, Lubos stands up straight. “Alright! In honor of this special moment, I will be giving Lance and Keith their school books for free…all signed by me!”

Lance hands Lubos the list of books Keith and he will need and Lubos goes to collect them. Pidge waves Lance and Keith over to her and her mom. Keith recalls her name being Colleen Holt.

“Guys, my mom said she’ll wait in line with your books to get them signed,” Pidge shares.

“Oh, thanks Mrs. Holt,” Lance says with a smile.

Lubos walks back over and hands Lance and Keith their books, winks at Colleen then heads back to his seat. Colleen takes the pile of books from Lance and Keith before the boys and Pidge walk back over to their families. Keith goes to ask a question, but the front door of the store opening and closing interrupts him. He sees Damien and Sendak walk in.

_ Oh great. _

Damien glares at Keith when he sees him. “Ugh, who let you in here? Since when can you even afford books? How did you even get here?”

Lance crosses his arms. “My family took him here, Damien. Back off!”

Sendak chuckles and turns to Luis. “Don’t you already have enough kids to care for, Luis? And with your wife gone, it can’t be easy.”

Luis narrows his eyes. “We were very happy to help Keith out, Sendak. And don’t bring Rosa into this, I know what you are.”

“You know what I was, but I still seem to have won between us, haven’t I? I mean, wife is still alive and breathing,” Sendak replies smugly. “I-”

Allura and Shiro come into view, ready to step into the conversation at any moment. Sendak’s disgusted expression quickly changes to a smile. “Oh! Allura, Takashi! I didn’t know you two were here!”

Allura crosses her arms. “Yes, we are here to make sure Keith gets all the supplies he needs for the school year.”

Damien laughs loudly. “Pathetic! You need two professors’ help getting your things? Wow Keith, I didn’t think your sad life could get anymore pathetic!”

Keith clenches his fists. “You take that back right now.”

Damien raises an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? And what if I don’t?”

“I’ll punch you like I punched Bethany!” Keith exclaims.

Damien scoffs. “Yeah right. You’re full of-”

_ CRACK! _

Keith’s fist makes contact with Damien’s face, sending him backwards. Matt gasps. “Oh, ouch! That one’s gonna leave a mark!”

Damien wipes his nose with his hand and sees blood on it. He glares at Keith. “Oh, you’re dead Kogane!” He lunges at Keith, but Sendak holds him back.

Keith goes to punch Damien again, but strong arms grab Keith’s shoulders and holds him back. He turns his head and sees Shiro holding him back. “Let me go, Shiro! I can handle this!”

“No! No fighting!” Shiro exclaims.

“Keith and Damien continue to struggle to reach each other, both of them hungry for blood. Who could win this fight? I’m taking bets! I have ten galleons on Keith!” Matt exclaims.

Allura whips her head at him and glares at him. “Matthew! That’s not appropriate!

Sendak pulls Damien towards the door. “Come Damien, that boy isn’t worth your time.” He pulls him out of the store and the door slams shut.

Keith yanks his arm out of Shiro’s grasp and steps away. “Stop babying me! You refuse to take me in so stop treating me like you’re my guardian!”

Shiro sighs. “Keith, this is-”

“Just stop!” Tears brim Keith’s eyes and his lip trembles. “Please…just stop.”

He walks over to Lucy, Lance, and Hunk. Lucy pulls him into a tight hug and looks at Luis. “Dad, we should go.”

Luis nods. “Right, well it was nice seeing all of you. Samuel, always a pleasure.” He and Samuel Holt shake hands. Luis then nods at Matt and Allura. “Matthew, Allura.”

Allura smiles kindly at him. “Luis.”

Shiro shakes Luis’s hand. “Take care of Keith for me, please.”

Luis nods. “Will do, Takashi. He’s safe with us.”

Colleen Holt walks back over with Keith’s and Lance’s school books and hands them to Luis. “These are Lance’s and Keith’s books. It was lovely to see you again, Luis. Take care!”

Lance, Hunk, and Keith each give Pidge a hug goodbye before walking out with Lance’s family. Hunk’s parents say goodbye to the Holts, Allura, and Shiro as well before following Keith and the McClains outside. They go to a few more shops, buying some more supplies for Blue and Red before heading back home.

That night, Keith could hardly sleep. He keeps waking up in a sweat from nightmares about his parents’ deaths and the foster home. Though, one theme keeps recurring between each one:

He always ends up alone.

Is this what’s gonna happen to him? Is this what Chulatt was trying to tell him?

Oh well, two more weeks and Keith will eventually get his answer…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5 will be out by the beginning of next week (hopefully).
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com)


	5. A Whomping Punishment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith finishes his summer at the McClain house with a _BANG_...there are fireworks. Getting everyone on the train to Hogwarts...well...doesn't work too well. Lance and Keith are forced to find another way there, but get in HUGE trouble in the process...
> 
> Will they be expelled?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO sorry for the delay of this chapter. I will try to not let this happen again, but no guarantees.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Summer begins to end at the McClain house, and in one last celebration before the new school year, they have a big picnic in the backyard. They have a deck that extends out from their side door making the garden go around that and the house. The yard itself is well-kept and cut nicely. The yard at Keith's foster home never looked this pretty.

The McClains invite the Garetts over and they bring over even more delicious food and amazing desserts. Keith plays around in the yard with Lance and Hunk while the adults get the food ready.

“So, are you guys excited to start the new year?” Hunk asks. “I’m ready to finally beat Pidge out for top of the class!”

Lance chuckles. “If anyone can do it, it’s you buddy. I, personally, don’t want summer to end. I’ve been having way too much fun!” He flashes a wide smile at Keith. “Having Keith over made it a million times better.”

Keith feels his cheeks heat up slightly when Lance smiles at him and says that, but he does his best to ignore the fluttering feeling in his stomach. “Yeah, it’s been really fun here.”

“Oh! Maybe you can come home with me at the end of the year!” Lance exclaims. “Screw that stupid foster home!”

Keith shrugs. “As much as I would love to, it’s not up to me. Shiro has to make that decision.” He crosses his arms. “He’ll choose to keep me at the stupid foster home because it’s in a convenient location for him…even though he never visits.”

“Maybe Shiro’s been dealing with stuff at the Ministry,” Hunk suggests. “I’m sure it’s nothing against you, Keith.”

Keith rolls his eyes. “Doubt it. I didn’t even get a letter from him!”

“Well, I didn’t get a letter from you either so.” Hunk crosses his arms.

Keith sighs. “Hunk, it’s more complicated than you think. I’m sorry I didn’t write letters, but I didn’t receive any of them in the first place…long story.”

Hunk opens his mouth to reply, but Isa calls them over for dinner. Keith hopes he won’t press the topic any further because he’s really not in the mood to talk about it. For dinner, the Garetts made burgers. While everyone eats their food, Carlos and Ryland set off some home-made fireworks in celebration of the last day of freedom before the others return to school.

Each firework is more extravagant than the last. They started off as simple explosions muggles would typically see, but then slowly took shape into different animals. Keith saw some that represented each Hogwarts house: a roaring lion for Gryffindor, a flying eagle for Ravenclaw, a running Badger for Hufflepuff, and a hissing serpent for Slytherin.

Keith’s favorite had to be the red and blue one Ryland almost set off straight at Isa, but managed to aim it away from her - he enjoyed the two colors coming together to form a bright, beautiful purple.

A food fight nearly broke out when Ryland accidentally spilled some ketchup on Hannah’s shirt. She retaliated by smashing a piece of pie on his head, but Isa put a stop to it before all the food went to waste. Carlos was disappointed since he had a huge glass of water he was ready to pour on Lucy’s head…

Though, now that Keith thinks about it, she probably would’ve murdered him for it.

Oh well, luckily Lance didn’t plan on throwing any food at him…

Probably…

Keith better sleep with an eye open tonight.

After some more fun and games, the Garetts say goodbye and head back to their house. Lance and Keith give Hunk some goodbye hugs before going back up to Lance’s room. Red perks up when she hears the door open and immediately jumps into Keith’s arms, nuzzling up against him. Keith chuckles. “Hi there.”

Red purrs loudly and licks his chin before directing her attention to Lance. She pushes off against Keith’s arms and jumps into Lance’s. He fumbles with her for a second, nearly dropping her, but she hops onto his shoulder to avoid falling. “I almost dropped her!” Lance exclaims.

Keith chuckles. “She won’t go down without a fight.” He plops down onto the floor where his blow-up mattress is and lays on it. “I think I’m gonna go to sleep now. I’ll see you in the morning Lance.”

Lance walks over to where Keith is lying and sets Red down on his stomach. “Alright! G’night Keith!” He hops into his own bed and shuts off the light by his bed.

Red walks around on Keith’s stomach before settling down in a comfortable position. Keith closes his eyes and feels himself drifting off into a deep sleep…

 

* * *

 

“¡HANNAH! ¡HOY NO VOY A LIDIAR CON TUS CAPRICHOS! ¡SAL DEL BAÑO AHORITA MISMO!” Lucy screams.

“¡Cállate! ¡Acabo de llegar!” Hannah retorts.

Keith hears Lance groan from his bed and chuck something on the floor. Red jumps up from Keith’s stomach and hisses at whatever Lance threw. He sits up and sees a shark pillow on the ground.

Of course.

“If I had a sickle for every time those two fought before school started…” Lance grumbles as he climbs out of bed. “Is it too much to ask for some peace and-”

A loud crash from downstairs quickly followed by several curse words Keith isn’t willing to repeat, interrupts Lance. Keith and Lance exchange a worried expression before sprinting downstairs. They rush into the kitchen and find Carlos and Ryland frantically trying to put out another fire. “Seriously?! Another fire?!” Lance exclaims.

Carlos whirls around, covered in soot. “Not another word, twerp! This time it-” His face pales as he looks up behind Lance and Keith. “Listen, dad…I can explain-”

Keith turns and steps aside as a tired-looking Luis raises his wand at the fire, using the same spell he did before to water down the flames. He rubs his forehead. “I can’t deal with this today. Lance, Keith go get your things together and bring-”

A blood curdling scream sounds from upstairs followed by quick footsteps running down the stairs. Hannah quickly rounds the corner from the hallway and leaps behind Carlos.

“¡REGRESA AQUÍ PENDEJA! ¡Tú lo rompiste!” Lucy screams from upstairs. Keith hears her stomp down them, holding a broken necklace in her hand. The silver chain looks like it snapped in the middle and the pendant seems to be missing the main jewel. She opens her mouth to scream again, but Luis raises his hand to stop her.

“Lucy, that is enough yelling,” Luis scolds her.

“But dad! Hannah went into my stuff and-”

“¡Lucille Catalina McClain, eso es suficiente!” Luis bellows, making everyone jump. “You and your sister are always at each other’s throats and I am sick of it! I am telling Allura to keep an eye on the both of you, and if I get word that you two are arguing with each other and disrupting class, I will ground the both of you for the rest of your lives…am I understood?” He looks between Hannah and Lucy.

Lucy nods, clearly terrified, but Hannah looks indifferent. “Look, I didn’t even do anything. She’s the one who kept the necklace out instead of putting it safely away somewhere.”

Luis crosses his arms. “You had no right to raid your sister’s belongings, Hannah. Go upstairs and pack up your belongings and return anything you stole from her.”

Hannah’s jaw drops down. “What?! But dad-”

“NOW!” he yells, pointing upstairs.

Hannah rolls her eyes and shoves past Lucy, causing her to drop the necklace again. Lance and Keith cringe when it hits the floor and shatters even more. Lucy looks up at Ryland and fights back tears when she sees the shocked/hurt expression on his face. He looks at her quickly before glancing at the clock. His eyebrows raise slightly, then he turns to Luis. “Mr. McClain, thank you for your kind hospitality, but I think my parents are going to be here soon to pick me up.”

Luis looks at his watch and nods. “Yes, of course. I hope they had a nice trip to Ireland. Carlos, will you go with Ryland to help him get his things together?”

Carlos nods quickly and leads Ryland to the stairs. Lucy reaches out for Ryland, but he ignores her. Keith bites his lip and grabs Lance’s arm, tugging him away from the awkward scene. He has no idea why Ryland would be upset over some necklace. It wasn’t even Lucy’s fault it broke, so what gives?

Keith brings Lance into the living room and looks at him. “Why did Ryland act like that when he saw the necklace?”

Lance sighs. “He gave it to her when they celebrated their three-year anniversary. It was super expensive and hard for him to get. He saved up a lot to get it for her.”

Keith furrows his eyebrows. “Okay, but shouldn’t he be pissed at Hannah for breaking it?”

Lance shrugs. “I mean, I’d be upset if I gave someone something like that and they just left it out for someone to take. Lucy doesn’t really think about things like that even though Hannah always steals her crap.” He pauses and turns to where Luis and Lucy are quietly talking in the kitchen. “You’d think she’d take better care of something of that importance.” He claps his hands together. “Oh well! Let’s go get packed! Once Isa gets Marco ready and out of his room, that’s our cue to leave!”

Keith follows Lance upstairs and they begin to pack their clothes and supplies in their trunks. Lance carefully carries Blue’s cage downstairs while she sits, perched on his shoulder. Keith grabs Red’s bed and looks around for her. He doesn’t see her on his bed anymore and begins to worry when he can’t find her anywhere in the room. He runs down the hallway, nearly plowing into Marco, who has finally left his room. He barely spares Keith a glance as he drags his trunk down the stairs.

Uh oh.

Isa smiles at Keith when she walks out of Marco’s room, holding a couple things he forgot. “You ready to go? I finally got him out!”

Keith offers her a fake smile. “You bet!”

She chuckles and walks downstairs. “Okay! The car is ready for everyone! We leave in ten!”

_ Oh no. _

Keith frantically runs down the rest of the hallway, peeking into each bedroom, desperately trying to find Red, but has no luck. He runs down the stairs and smacks into Lance. Both boys fall backwards onto the ground. Keith groans and glares at Lance. “Hey! Watch where you’re going!”

Lance returns the glare. “You watch it! I can’t find my wand!”

“Yeah? Well I can’t find my cat!” Keith retorts.

Carlos walks back in the house through the front door and blinks a couple times when he sees Keith and Lance on the ground. “Why are you two on the ground?”

Lance rolls his eyes. “We ran into each other! I can’t find my wand and he can’t find Red!”

Carlos looks to his right and snickers. “Uh, did you look in the family room?”

Keith and Lance both turn to look in the room next door and, sure enough, see Red on the windowsill by the large bookcase, licking her paw nonchalantly. She turns to them when she notices them looking at her. She tilts her head and shifts slightly, revealing Lance’s stolen wand between her paws.

“THIEF!” Lance yells, pointing his finger at Red.

Carlos bursts out laughing as he grabs the last trunk from the entryway. “Wow! I love that cat even more! Atta girl, Red!” He winks at her.

Red paws the air in front of her towards Carlos and meows loudly. Keith scrambles to his feet and over to Red. He hoists her up and snatches Lance’s wand from the ledge. “You little stinker.”

She purrs affectionately at Keith and nuzzles in his arms. He rolls his eyes and walks back over to Lance. “Here’s your wand. I don’t know how-”

“KEITH! LANCE! GET OUTSIDE NOW OR ELSE WE’RE LEAVING YOU BEHIND!” Isa yells from outside.

Keith and Lance exchange a worried expression with each other before sprinting outside to the car. They hop in and Isa drives them to King’s Cross just in time to catch the Hogwarts Express. Isa helps Keith, Marco, and Lucy load their carts with their stuff while Luis helps Lance and Hannah with their stuff. Red trots next to Keith as they make their way over to the wall between platforms 9 and 10.

Isa walks through with Marco first then Hannah follows with Carlos. Luis separated the twins so they wouldn’t fight with each other. After a couple seconds Luis walks through the wall with Lucy, leaving Lance and Keith with all their stuff. Lance begged Luis in the car to let him and Keith go through by themselves.

Lance turns to Keith and smiles widely at him. “You ready?”

Keith feels himself already smiling when Lance looks at him. The warm, fluttering feeling returns in Keith’s stomach, but this time he doesn’t ignore it. He doesn’t really know what it means, but if it’s associated with Lance…Keith’s okay with it.

They stand next to each other and prepare to run through the wall together. Keith takes a deep breath and takes off running for the wall, just as Lance does. They get closer and closer until-

_ CRASH _

The carts slam into the wall, causing everything to fall out. Keith falls backwards on his butt and groans. “Ow! Why didn’t it work?! Did we miss the train?!”

Lance winces and sits up, rubbing his head. “Looks like it.” He glances around and sees people staring at them. “Okay…I have an idea, but we’ll have to hurry.” He and Keith quickly pick up the stuff that fell off their carts and hurry back to where Isa parked the car. They load everything into the back seat before hopping in the front, Lance in the driver’s seat and Keith and Red in the passenger’s seat. “We’re gonna follow the train in the car.” Lance presses a button in the car and it rumbles to life. He pulls a couple levers and Keith feels the car beginning to float into the air.

Keith looks out the window and sees the other cars beginning to get smaller and smaller as Lance brings their car higher in the air. The car surges forward and flies next to the railroad tracks. Keith finds himself smiling widely as they soar through the clouds and across the fields below them while keeping the Hogwarts Express in sight.

They pass the time by chatting about things they’re excited for in the new school year. Lance says he’s nervous about Quidditch tryouts, but Keith makes him feel better by saying Lance has a great chance of making it. Eventually the boys become hungry and get bored, several hours have passed and they don’t know how much longer the train ride will be.

Suddenly, the car makes a sputtering noise and jostles a bit. Keith grabs the armrests and looks at Lance. “What was that?”

Lance desperately tries to pull some levers, but the car doesn’t respond. “I think we’re out of gaAAAAAAAS!” Lance screams and turns the wheel sharply, narrowly avoiding plunging into the Hogwarts lake.

“LANCE! WATCH OUT!” Keith yells before shutting his eyes tightly as the car smashes into a large, sprawling tree in the Forbidden Forest.

Large, thick, and angry branches start attacking the car, causing Lance and Keith to scream more. They desperately try to get out of the car, but the doors are stuck shut. The car begins to fall forward then crashes into the ground. The branches smack the ground around the tree, but Lance presses the gas before they can get hit again. Once they’re away from the tree, the doors pop open and Lance, Keith, and all their belongings are tossed from the car. Keith manages to catch Red before she hits the ground and Lance manages to catch Blue’s cage.

The car drives off into the forest, leaving the two boys alone. Keith and Lance look at each other with wide eyes before they both start laughing. Red hisses at them both and jumps out of Keith’s arms and flicks her tail in the direction of the castle. The boys take that as a hint to get inside the castle. They collect their things and make their way into the castle just in time to see the rest of the sorting process for the new first years so they can be placed in one of the four different houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw.

They look across the Great Hall at the professors’ table and see an empty chair. Keith mentally counts off which professors are present then realizes which one is missing: Professor Thace Slater, the mean potions professor who just also happens to be the head of Keith’s house. “Do you know where Thace is? I don’t see him up there.”

Lance places a hand on his face and strokes his chin. “Hmm…maybe Shiro fired him.”

Keith crosses his arms. “I highly doubt that. Maybe he’s just late or instilling fear into some first years.”

Suddenly, a voice sounds from behind them. “I think the correct response is instilling fear into some second years.”

Lance and Keith jump, startled. They turn and almost scream when they see Thace standing behind them, arms crossed and a glare on his face. “Professor, it wasn’t our fault! The platform-” Lance starts.

“Not a word! Come with me…NOW!” Thace bellows, seizing both of their arms and dragging them to his office. Once they arrive, Thace slams the door shut and shoves a newspaper in their hands. “Don’t you see the damage you have done with your carelessness?! This is a muggle newspaper that has claimed to have seen a flying car! How idiotic are the both of you to put the wizarding world in jeopardy like this!? Not to mention the destruction you’ve done to the Whomping Willow…that tree is extremely valuable!” He uncrosses his arms and glares harder at the two boys. “Just wait until Professors Quinn and Shirogane hear about this.” He turns and exits the room with a  _ woosh _ of his cloak, the door slamming after him. Professor Takashi Shirogane, Shiro for short, is the Headmaster of Hogwarts and Professor Allura Quinn is the Headmistress and Head of Gryffindor House, Lance’s house.

Lance and Keith wait in tense silence for Thace to get back with Shiro and Allura. After a couple minutes, the door flies open again, showing Thace with Shiro and Allura in tow. Keith avoids looking at Shiro, not wanting to deal with the other crap he has with him. He hears Thace tell Allura and Shiro everything, but once he finishes, Keith hears Shiro stifle a chuckle.

“Takashi!” Allura scolds, swatting him on the arm. She glares at him before turning to Lance and Keith. “You two will have detention, but…are permitted to stay at Hogwarts.”

Thace’s jaw drops. “What! They should be expelled!”

Allura raises an eyebrow. “Then your house would lose its best chance at winning the Quidditch Cup again.”

Thace opens his mouth to retort, but shuts it, then turning to Keith. “I expect nothing but wins from you this year, Mr. Kogane, understood?”

Keith nods. “Yes sir.”

Thace seems satisfied by this then leaves his office, immediately discussing something with Shiro. He turns back to Keith, but Keith doesn’t spare Shiro another glance. The door shuts, leaving Allura, Lance, and Keith in the room. She makes a plate of sandwiches and some pumpkin juice appear for the boys before she heads back to the feast.

Lance and Keith happily eat the food before heading back out to the Great Hall to find their friends, Pidge and Hunk. As they look around, Lance’s Gryffindor friends Delia Trang and Paul Franco find them and take Lance away, demanding to know what happened.

Keith waves goodbye to Lance and begins to head to his dorm alone when two sets of hands grab him. He turns and sees two of his teammates, Sophia Barre, one of Slytherin’s Beaters, and Stella Almilla, one of Slytherin’s Chasers, standing there. “Oh hey! You two scared me!” Keith chuckles.

“It’s just us, Kogane,” Stella replies, ruffling Keith’s hair while slinging her arm around his shoulders.

“Dude, you need to tell us everything that happened!” Sophia exclaims. “The team is  _ dying _ to know!”

Keith chuckles as Stella and Sophia guide him to the Slytherin common room. Inside, they find Mason Daviau, Slytherin’s Keeper, and Cooper Castillo, Slytherin’s other Beater and team captain, waiting on the couches. Cooper jumps up and claps when he sees Keith. “Yo! Kogane! You owe us a story man!”

Sophia plops down next to him on the couch while Stella and Keith sit on another one. He smiles widely at his team before telling them everything, starting from when Lance, Carlos, and Ryland rescued him from the foster home.

_ What was Chulatt talking about? This year was gonna be great! _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also! We are starting another AU soon (it's like a cop AU type thing) so keep an eye out for that! It's gonna be really good :)
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com)


	6. Screaming Mandrakes and Signed Photos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the Whomping Willow incident, school starts up as normal. Pidge only starts talking to Keith and Lance after Lance gets a very angry letter in the mail. Coran teaches the kids about some new plants and Lubos's first impression of being a professor goes horribly wrong when he releases some creatures into the classroom...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at that! Another chapter! I'm on a roll here :)
> 
> Enjoy!

Keith wakes up the next morning a bit sore from dealing with the Whomping Willow last night…that’s one thing Keith will never, ever go near again. He quickly gets dressed in his Slytherin robes and walks through the common room, past the black leather couches near the bricked fireplace. The overall atmosphere of the common room is pretty dark, despite it being well-lit from the lanterns scattered across the room. The Slytherin house flags line across the walls between each tall window, showing school spirit and pride. Above the fireplace is a portrait of Salazar Slytherin with the metal Slytherin serpent logo below. Whenever Keith looks at the portrait, he gets an uneasy feeling in his stomach, but he doesn’t really know why. Well…the guy  _ does _ look terrifying.

Keith waves to Sophia and Stella who are playing a card game together at one of the tables next to the wall before he walks out the door.

He walks down the hallways and over to Professor Coran Kramer’s office where he, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge agreed to meet so they could walk to breakfast together. Keith spots them waiting there and immediately smiles when he sees them. “Hey guys!” Keith exclaims, hurrying over.

Pidge scoffs and crosses her arms when Keith walks over. “Hello, traitor.”

Keith stops in his tracks and his smile fades away. “What? What’d I do?”

Lance shakes his head. “She’s just pissy because we didn’t sit with her on the train yesterday.”

Pidge glares at him. “Why don’t we just go to breakfast? I’m not in the mood to discuss this with either of you.” She brushes past Keith and storms down the hallway towards the Great Hall.

Keith looks to Hunk. “You’re not mad too, are you?”

“What?! Of course not! What you two did was  _ awesome _ !” Hunk exclaims with a huge smile as he, Lance, and Keith start making their way to the Great Hall as well. “She was also pissed you didn’t reply to any of her letters, but I told her why you couldn’t. She believed me, but I think she wants an apology from you.”

Keith crosses his arms. “It’s not my fault! Why should I be apologizing?!”

Hunk exchanges a grimace with Lance before looking back at Keith. “She was worried, dude…we all were.” He sighs. “Just talk to her about it, okay? I don’t want to get in the middle of anything.”

The three boys arrive at the Great Hall and go off to their House’s tables. Keith sees Lance join his first-year friends and Hunk takes a seat next to Shay and his other Hufflepuff friends. Keith takes a seat next to Mason, across from Cooper. He turns and smiles when he sees Sophia and Stella run into the Great Hall to quickly take their seats. Stella plops down next to Keith, elbowing him playfully before loading her plate with food.

Sophia and Mason immediately get into an argument of whether sausage or bacon is better…Mason claiming bacon is better while Sophia takes the side of sausage. They try to get Keith, Cooper, and Stella involved, but none of them want in on it.

Hooting from above interrupts their debate, signaling that the day’s letters and packages have arrived. An owl lands in front of Cooper with a letter in her beak and another in front of Stella with a thin, but long box. Keith sets down his fork to watch her open it, curious as to what could be inside.

She carefully tears open the box and opens it, a wide smile forming on her face. “Yes! Thank goodness.” Stella pulls out a beautiful jade green quill and smirks at the rest of her friends. “Look who has an awesome new quill.”

Sophia gasps and motions for her to hand it over. “Lemme see!” Stella hands it to Sophia and she runs her finger across the edges. “It’s so soft! I love the color…it’s very appropriate.”

Stella chuckles and takes it back from her. “I actually wanted a red one, but they were sold out. My dad said he liked this one for me better so he bought this one instead.” She smiles widely. “He was right.” She looks over at Cooper and furrows her eyebrows in concern. “Hey, Coop, what’s up? You’ve been staring at that letter for a while.”

He looks up. “What? Oh, it’s just a letter from my mom. I asked her if she’d be home in time to watch our first Quidditch match, but she doesn’t think she will.” He folds up the paper and stuffs it in his pocket. Cooper looks at the rest of his teammates when he realizes they’re still looking at him. “Guys, it’s fine. I never see her anyway so I’m used to it.”

“You have a right to be upset with her, Cooper,” Mason says before pouring himself some more milk. “How many years is this now? Four?”

Cooper rolls his eyes. “Not the point, Mason. My dad will be there and that’s fine by me.”

Keith exchanges a worried expression with Stella, but neither of them decide to press him further. He looks across the room to the Gryffindor table where Lance is sitting and sees Luis McClain’s owl fly in with a red envelope in his beak. The owl drops it on the table, screeches, and flies away. Smoke begins coming from the envelope, causing Lance’s eyes to widen in fear. Keith furrows his eyebrows and taps Stella’s arm. “Hey, what’s a smoking red envelope?”

She perks up and looks over to where Keith is looking. “A howler. Who got one?” She snickers when she sees who. “Oh dang! Keith, your bud is about to be  _ chewed out _ . I bet it’s about the tree thing. Get ready for a show!”

Keith sees Lance exchange expressions with his other friends before slowly opening the card. Once it’s open, it flies in front of his face and the infuriated voice of Isabella McClain rings throughout the entire Great Hall.

“ _ ¡LANCE LUIS-EDUARDO MCCLAIN! ¿¡TIENES LA MENOR IDEA DE LA DAÑO QUE TÚ CAUSASTE POR ROBAR MI CARRO!? ¡LLA CASI ME DESPIDIERON EN EL TRABAJO EN LA MAÑANA! ¿QUE ESTUPIDO ERES? ¡DEBERÍAS SABER MEJOR QUE ARRIESGAR EXPONER EL MUNDO DE BRUJOS A LOS MUGGLES APARTE DE PONER KEITH Y TÚ VIDA EN PELIGRO! ¡YO EXPECTO UNA CARTA DE PERDÓN MUCHACHITO O SINO VOY A TENER QUE DECIRLE A TU PAPÁ QUE TE SABE DE AHÍ! _ ”

The envelope suddenly bursts into flames and tears itself apart before falling back onto the table in a pile of ashes. Lance looks up from the pile and meets Keith’s gaze. They exchange a horrified expression before turning back to their plates of food. Suddenly, Keith isn’t so hungry anymore.

Once the students are dismissed, Keith quickly finds Hunk, Pidge, and Lance so they can walk to their classes together. He finds Pidge first and she seems like she’s in a better mood. She smiles widely when Keith and Lance walk up to her. “Hello friends!”

“Now you’re happy to see us?” Lance questions with a raised eyebrow.

She giggles and nods. “Of course! You two have been put through enough torment. I don’t need to be angry with you anymore.”

Lance and Keith exchange eye rolls, then start walking once Hunk joins them. They pass a disgruntled Coran and a cheerful Lubos Ito who is dressed in flamboyant turquoise robes

Lubos seems to be animatedly and smugly telling Coran how to properly doctor the Whomping Willow, but Coran looks like he would rather be inside the Whomping Willow himself than in that conversation. Once Lubos catches sight of Keith and Lance, he excuses himself from Coran and hurries over to the two boys, pulling them aside.

“Keith, Lance, I’m afraid it is  _ my _ fault you two got in the car accident,” Lubos expresses painfully.

Keith and Lance exchange a confused expression before turning back to Lubos. “What are you talking about?” Keith asks.

“Well, ever since I gave the both of you a taste of fame that day in the bookstore, you’ve been trying to reclaim that fame by behaving in the reckless manner, of course!” Lubos exclaims.

Keith blinks and his jaw drops down.  _ Is this moron for real?! _ “You - what?! I’ll have you know that Lance and I did NOT crash that car because of any influence y-” he starts, but Lance covers his mouth with his hand.

“We’re terribly sorry, professor. It won’t happen again! We understand the responsibilities being famous comes with now,” Lance reasons with an obvious forced smile, but Lubos doesn’t seem to notice it.

He smiles widely and nods. “Good then! I shall see you boys in class then!” He waves goodbye before hurrying off to his classroom.

Lance brings Keith back over to Hunk and Pidge before removing his hand from Keith’s mouth. “Ugh! Lance! Why didn’t you let me tell that moron off?!” he demands.

“Because, he’s our professor. We can’t be rude to him,” Lance replies. “Hunk and I have to get to Potions now before Thace murders us, alright? I’ll see you after for Defense Against the Dark Arts.” He gives Keith a small smile and a pat on the shoulder before hurrying off with Hunk.

Pidge raises her eyebrows at Keith. “Just so you know, if it were up to me, I would’ve let you tell that idiot off.”

Keith smiles and chuckles. “Thanks Pidge.”

She nods at him and they make their way out of the castle and down the hill over to the greenhouse for Herbology. Once inside, they take their seats next to some Ravenclaw kids, near where Coran has his stuff set up. Keith turns to Pidge and goes to apologize about not sending a letter to her over the summer, but Damien and Bethany barge into the greenhouse, talking loudly with each other.

“Yeah then they crashed into the tree like the fools they are,” Bethany says, deliberately glaring at Keith. “I’m disappointed they weren’t expelled.”

Keith glares at her. “I’m not afraid of punching you in the face again, Bethany.”

She visibly flinches and steps behind Damien. “How do you even know I was talking about you? Jeez, not everything is about you, Keith.”

Keith stands up to retort, but whatever he was going to say dies in his throat when Coran walks in. Coran smiles kindly at Keith before making his way over to the head of the large table. He sets down the books he was holding and looks at the class. “Hello everyone! I apologize for my tardiness. Professor Lubos felt he needed to go into great detail with me on how to treat the Whomping Willow…it’s not like it’s my job or anything to care for things like that.”

The class chuckles at his joke.

“Anyway! Our lesson today will be repotting seedling Mandrakes!” Coran announces. He claps his hands together. “Can anyone tell me what those are?”

Pidge raises her hand. “Mandrakes are pale green, mottled-looking babies with leaves growing out of their heads. They are a strong restorative used to return transfigured people to their original state. Their cry is fatal to the naked ear.”

Coran nods and smiles at her. “Yes, correct! Ten points to Ravenclaw!”

Her Ravenclaw classmates clap for her and Keith gives her a thumbs up while shooting a glare at Damien and Bethany when he hears them mocking her.

The class quiets down once again when Coran clears his throat. “Okay! Before we handle the Mandrakes, we must take the proper safety precautions! Everyone, please put on the gloves and the set of earmuffs I’ve placed in front of each of you because, as Pidge informed us, the cries of a seedling Mandrake is fatal.”

Pidge and Keith exchange a smile with each other before putting the earmuffs on their heads and the gloves on their hands. Keith looks around the room, the voices of his classmates suddenly muffled to a whisper. He only turns back to Coran when he hears him shouting.

“OKAY EVERYONE! FIRMLY GRIP THE TOP OF THE MANDRAKE AND HOLD STEADY THE CONTAINER IT IS IN! THEN PULL, LIKE SO…” Coran pauses to grab the leaves of the Mandrake and the container before yanking out a wrinkly greenish-brown creature. Keith winces when he hears the screaming. He watches when Coran easily places it in the pot beside him and fills it with dirt. Once the pot is full, the screaming stops. “NOW YOU ALL TRY!”

Keith directs his attention to his container, suddenly feeling uneasy about it. Will he even be able to pull the thing out without chucking it somewhere? Perhaps it’s like dealing with the gnomes back at Lance’s house over the summer.

He mentally shrugs to himself before grabbing the container with one hand and the top of the Mandrake with the other. He struggles for a bit to loosen the creature, but eventually he pulls it out. He cringes when the Mandrake begins screaming and thrashing around in his hand. Keith struggles to keep hold of it and even grabs the body portion with his free hand, but the Mandrake bites him. Keith yanks his hand away, thankful for the gloves Coran had them put on.

Keith glares at the creature and shoves it into the pot, ignoring the screams and begins shoveling dirt inside. Once he finishes, he breathes heavily…that was much harder than anticipated. He turns and sees Pidge still struggling to pull her Mandrake out so he grabs hold of her container, allowing her to use both hands to yank the Mandrake out.

Pidge stumbles back when the Mandrake struggles in her hands, but Keith helps guide her to the pot on the table then they begin shoveling in dirt so the screaming will stop. Keith jumps, startled when he hears a loud thud on the ground across from him. He looks across and sees Damien looking at the floor with a shocked expression.

Keith walks over and looks around Coran and sees Bethany on the ground, unconscious. Coran claps his hands and shouts, “OKAY! SOMEONE DIDN’T FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS! IF YOU ARE DONE WITH YOUR MANDRAKE, YOU ARE DISMISSED EARLY!”

Keith and Pidge quickly place their gloves and earmuffs back on the table then cover their ears with their hands so they don’t end up like Bethany before running out of the greenhouse and back into the castle. Since they have some extra time before Hunk and Lance are released from Potions, Keith and Pidge work on memorizing some things for Charms since they have a quiz today. They each take turns performing different spells until they have them done to almost perfection.

After fifteen minutes or so, Hunk and Lance finally join them at the windows by the center courtyard of the castle. Neither of them look happy. Keith raises his eyebrow at Lance, silently asking about his bad mood.

Lance rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “Usual Thace bullcrap…it’s fine, I’m fine. Come on, Delia and Paul said they’d meet us in front of Lubos’s classroom.” He turns to Hunk and Pidge. “We’ll see you two later.” They wave goodbye and Keith and Lance begin walking to Lubos’s classroom.

They find Delia and Paul waiting for them outside the classroom, but before Keith and Lance can walk up to them, a short, camera-clutching first year runs up to them. “Keith Kogane?! Lance McClain?! Oh my gosh! My name is Benjamin Zeek, but my friends call me Beezer! I’m a huge fan of both of you! Could I get a signed picture with you two to prove we’ve met?” the boy asks, talking quickly.

Keith’s eyes widen in shock and he turns to Lance. “Uh, well, we-”

“You guys are so awesome! I’ve heard stories of what you guys did last year and that was so cool? How did you do it? How did you know You-Know-Who was part of it? How…”

He continues to ramble off, earning looks from students walking past. Keith feels himself getting more and more embarrassed, desperately wanting to get out of this conversation. He looks to Lance for help, but he sees Lance eating up the attention. A huge smile is present on his face and Keith can’t bring himself to pull Lance away from this.

Just as Beezer was about to leave them alone, Damien and the recently revived Bethany walk up to them. “Oh look! Lance and Keith are giving out signed photos!” Damien yells, laughing at them.

Keith’s about to tell him off, but two other Slytherin second years beat him to it. “How about you lay off, Morrison? You’re just jealous no one gives a crap about you,” the boy says. Keith recognizes the two kids as Cooper’s twin siblings, Xander and Layla Castillo.

“Uh, excuse me? Who gave you the right to speak to us?” Bethany demands. “That’s right, no one did.”

Layla pulls out her wand and glares at her. “ANTEOCULATIA!” A spark of light comes from Layla’s wand and hits Bethany in the face. She screams as horns begin to sprout from the sides of her head.

Keith turns to her and smiles, but it quickly fades away when he sees Lubos walking over. Damien and Bethany quickly run into the classroom, desperately trying to reverse the hex Layla put on Bethany.

Lubos watches them go, but doesn’t say anything about Bethany’s horns. “I heard Keith and Lance were posing for a picture? Why don’t I get in on that?!” He looks at Beezer. “You, young man, you take the picture!”

Keith grimaces as Lubos puts an arm around him and Lance, smiling at the camera. He hears the flash go off. Beezer jumps up and down, excited. “Thank you so much!” He rushes off, probably late for his class.

Lubos directs Layla, Xander, Delia, and Paul into the classroom so he can speak to Lance and Keith. Once they’re alone, he speaks in a quiet voice. “Boys, you shouldn’t be giving out signed photos this early in your careers, alright? If you need any more advice, don’t be a stranger!” He smiles at them again before walking into the classroom.

Lance turns to Keith. “I thought I’d like the attention, but it’s awful…especially whenever that man is involved.”

Keith rolls his eyes, grabbing Lance’s hand. “Come on, we’ll sit in the back.” He guides Lance into the classroom and they sit at the back-most table, not risking sitting by their friends in case Lubos calls on them or something worse…

He does spot a covered cage next to Lubos’s desk. Occasionally the sheet covering it moves a bit, telling Keith that there’s probably something living in there. What monstrosity could Lubos have brought for them to deal with? Keith didn’t even trust this man to give him a good education, let alone expose him to some random Dark Arts creature…

Lubos claps his hands together, getting everyone’s attention and breaking Keith out of his thoughts. “Okay! To start class, you all will be taking a quiz to test your comprehension of the books you were required to read!”

The class erupts in protest, claiming they haven’t done anything because they didn’t get the list of books ‘till the end of summer. Lance and Keith exchange shocked expressions before looking back to Lubos.

“It won’t be hard…just try your best!” He smiles as he passes out the papers.

Once Keith gets his test, he immediately drops his quill on his desk, no longer in the mood to be in this class. Lance sighs, but begins to write on the paper. He notices Keith not writing anything and elbows him gently, gesturing to Lubos who is walking around.

Keith begrudgingly picks up his quill and starts writing. He doesn’t read most of the questions, not really caring what they say or what answer he puts down. Lance occasionally peeks over at his paper to compare answers (even though nearly all of Keith’s answers are probably wrong).

After everyone finishes, Lubos collects the papers and goes back to the front of the class. “Alright! I expect to see everyone with high marks!” He sets them down on his desk. “Now, today we will be dealing with pixies.” He yanks off a sheet from the cage that’s next to his desk, revealing many small electric blue creatures. “These are freshly caught Cornish Pixies…caught by yours truly.”

Keith scoffs, not believing a word out of that man’s mouth.

“We will be working on trapping them! Watch and learn, kids!” Lubos opens the cage, releasing all the pixies into the air. He raises his wand up. “Peskipiksi Pesternomi!”

Nothing comes from his wand and one of the pixies flies over and snatches Lubos’s wand from his hand. “Oh dear…” He trails off.

Another student screams as he is lifted off the ground by his ears and hung by his robes on the ceiling. The room erupts in chaos as the pixies fly around and torment the rest of the students. “Okay! Uh! Class dismissed!” Lubos exclaims. They start running out of the room in fear. Lubos collects his stuff and approaches Lance and Keith. “You two can help me clean up, eh? Great!” He runs out without another word, leaving Lance and Keith alone with the rampaging pixies.

Keith huffs and ducks as a book is thrown across the room by one of the pixies. Lance picks up a textbook and whacks one of the pixies away from him. He swings the book around, trying to hit all the pixies he can away from him. Keith glares at the pixie who threw a book at him and aims his wand in the air. “IMMOBULUS!” Keith bellows.

All the pixies suddenly stop moving and freeze in place, blinking in confusion. Keith smirks to himself and lowers his wand, proud of his ability to stop the creatures. He looks over at Lance and he gives Keith a smile and a thumbs up.

“Uh…hello? Up here!” a voice yells from above.

Keith and Lance look up and see Paul Franco swinging around on the light from his robe. Keith rubs his forehead and sighs.

Allura is definitely going to hear about this…

And Professor Holt…he’ll be happy to hear Keith used what he learned in class to stop some rabid pixies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have chapter 7 all ready and written I just have to go back and make edits and wait for the drawings to be finished (the tables have turned once again). I think I'm out of my funk for this AU, but we'll see what happens.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com)


	7. A New Season of Quidditch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quidditch tryouts begin and Keith couldn't be more excited about it. Slytherin has to share the field with Gryffindor, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Now Keith can watch Lance try out! His excitement for his friend doesn't waver even if he has to deal with Damien and Bethany trying out for Slytherin's team...they probably won't make it anyway.
> 
> At the end of the day, it's time for Keith and Lance to serve out their detentions. Lance goes with the new caretaker while Keith deals with Lubos...what could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one week?!?!?! Lol this probably won't happen again (unless I get a wave of inspiration again).
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Time ticks on rather uneventfully at Hogwarts. Keith and Lance spend most of their time avoiding Lubos and Beezer as much as possible throughout the days, along with Damien and Bethany. It’s harder for Keith however since he’s stuck seeing them in every single one of his classes.

If he could, he’d switch into Gryffindor in a heartbeat, but Shiro would never allow it since the Sorting Hat is never wrong…plus he’d never hear the end of it from his team. They need him if they want to win the Quidditch Cup this year again and Keith wouldn’t betray them like that.

Keith wakes up to the sound of someone knocking on his bedpost. He groans and rubs his eyes before sitting up. He sees Cooper Castillo all dressed up in his Quidditch uniform, holding his broom. “Up and at ‘em, Kogane! Today is Quidditch tryouts!” he exclaims with a smile. “We’ll be sharing the field with Gryffindor, but I talked with their captain, Charlotte Giles, and she said we could scrimmage at the end.”

Keith smirks slightly. “It’s not because you think she’s pretty or anything, right? You don’t want to impress-”

“Okay! Enough,” Cooper scolds. “Just get ready and get outside, alright? Barre is waiting for you downstairs.” He ruffles Keith’s hair before heading downstairs.

Keith jumps out of bed and immediately changes into his Quidditch uniform. He lifts it out of his trunk and smiles at the number “1” on the back of his jersey with his last name written above in shimmering green letters. He slips it on and grabs the rest of his gear and broom before running down to where Sophia is waiting.

She looks up from her book when she hears him run down the stairs. “Ready?”

Keith hurriedly puts on the rest of his gear and nods. “This is exciting! I’ve never been to Quidditch tryouts before.”

She chuckles. “Oh yeah! I completely forgot you were put on the team after Allura and Thace talked to Ryland last year,” she says as they walk out of the common room together, over to the Quidditch field. “So, are any of your friends trying out for Slytherin’s team or any of the other teams?”

Keith nods. “Yeah, Lance is trying out for Gryffindor’s and Hunk is trying out for Hufflepuff’s.”

Sophia raises her eyebrow. “Really? What positions?”

“Well, Gryffindor already has two Beaters, but that’s what Lance was good at when we practiced. He’ll probably be an emergency sub. Hunk is trying out as Keeper,” Keith shares. “He’s actually really good.”

“Well, we’ll see after the teams are posted, won’t we?” She elbows him playfully as they join the rest of their team and Gryffindor’s current members.

Keith’s current teammates (again) are fifth year Stella Alamilla as a Chaser, fourth year Sophia Barre as a Beater, seventh year captain Cooper Castillo as the other Beater, seventh year Mason Daviau as the Keeper, and obviously Keith as the Seeker. Gryffindor’s current players consist of fourth year Brooklyn Torres as a Chaser, sixth years Lucy and Hannah McClain as the Beaters, and seventh year captain Charlotte Giles as the Seeker.

Charlotte and Cooper discuss what they want to happen during tryouts. They decide to split the field in half, one side for Slytherin and the other for Gryffindor. Charlotte takes the Quaffle first to work with those who want to try out as Chasers and Keepers, allowing Cooper to take the Bludgers and work with those who want to try out as Beaters (or, most likely, emergency subs). Cooper leads Sophia and the other Slytherin kids over to the far half of the field, while Charlotte stays on the opposite side.

Keith lingers on the Gryffindor side with Stella and Mason for a bit so they can watch the Gryffindor kids tryout. Keith spots Lance amongst the group of people and finds himself smiling, happy that he did end up showing.

Charlotte begins instructing them how to properly throw a Quaffle, using Brooklyn as her example. She has Brooklyn throw it through one of the hoops to demonstrate. Keith sees Hannah catch the Quaffle on the opposite side, throwing it back to Brooklyn. Charlotte then splits everyone up of who wants to be a Chaser, Beater, or Keeper. The Beaters sit out and watch since this has nothing to do with them. Lance remains in the Chaser group because he would be happy playing either position.

Each kid goes through a couple times, trying to score through one of the hoops while another kid tries to block the shot. Most of the Keepers are pretty terrible…or the possible Chasers are just really good. Lance does well, but Keith can tell he isn’t as happy over there as he would be where the Beaters are practicing.

After a while Cooper and Charlotte switch sides so they can work with the other positions. Stella and Mason join Cooper with the Chasers and Keepers while Sophia flies over to Keith, clearly unhappy. Keith tilts his head. “What’s up? Did things not go well?”

“No, they did…there were these two rude and obnoxious second years who clearly stunk - well one of them was pretty good, but the chick sucked - but acted as though they were the best,” Sophia explains. “The girl had the nerve to correct  _ me _ ! Like no! I’m on the team…you’re not!”

“Were their names Bethany and Damien?” Keith asks dully.

“Yeah, how’d you know?” Sophia wonders.

Keith spots them in the Chaser group and glowers in that direction. “I hate them.”

Sophia nods. “I can see why. Don’t worry, Cooper definitely won’t pick Bethany, but I can’t promise anything on Damien…that kid was pretty good. Hey, do you wanna watch the Gryffindor Beaters? We can see your friend Lance tryout.”

Keith nods happily. “Yeah!”

They fly over to the Gryffindor Beaters and Keith sees Sophia’s jaw drop slightly when Lance hits one of the Bludgers with the bat right at Brooklyn Torres with amazing accuracy. She barely dodges in time, the Bludger lightly bumping into the back of her broom.

Sophia looks at Keith. “Wow…he is pretty good. I’d say he could beat out one of his sisters if he really wanted to.”

Keith nods in agreement with her and they watch the rest of the Gryffindor Beaters tryout before Cooper calls them back over on the ground. As Keith flies over to his team, he passes Damien and Bethany and hears them say something about Lance. Keith stops in the air to listen further.

“…so bad. He doesn’t even belong out there,” Damien says.

“It’s so pathetic he thinks he has the chance of making it,” Bethany replies. “He’s awful.”

Lance flies over to go to Keith, but Keith lands on the ground to confront Damien and Bethany first. “Hey! You have no right to say those things about him! He did ten times better than you two combined! If I hear more negative things, I’ll punch the both of you!” Keith yells.

“Oh, shut up you filthy mudblood!” Damien yells in reply.

Everyone on the field gasps and goes quiet when Damien says that. Keith’s eyes widen and he deflates slightly.

Lance lands next to Keith and dismounts from his broom. “EAT SLUGS DAMIEN!” Lance shouts with a flick of his wand.

Damien lifts his wand and deflects the spell, sending it back at Lance causing him to stumble back onto the ground. Keith kneels next to Lance and goes to ask what’s wrong, but covers his mouth in disgust when Lance pukes out a slug.

Cooper and Charlotte run over to see what’s wrong, but stop when Lance vomits another slug. “Okay! Keith, will you take him to the infirmary please? Tryouts are done so it’s okay he leaves,” Charlotte says.

Keith nods and helps Lance stand, putting his arm around Lance’s waist to support him. Lance puts his arm around Keith’s neck and leans against him. Keith then turns to Stella when she joins the group. “Will you grab my broom?”

She nods. “Yeah, I got it, Keith. Go take care of your friend.”

Keith takes Lance off the field, stopping a couple times so Lance could vomit a slug. “You didn’t have to do that, Lance,” Keith mumbles. “Damien was just being a jerk.”

Lance shakes his head no, gripping his stomach tightly before vomiting out another slug. “I did have to,” he rasps out, spitting on the ground next to them before they walk inside. “You don’t deserve their crap.”

Keith smiles to himself and finds himself hugging Lance a bit closer to himself when they walk down the halls towards the infirmary. Eventually they run into Pidge and Hunk. “Oh, hey guys. We’re just on our way to see Slav because Lance-”

As if on cue, Lance pukes out another slug, causing Pidge to jump back, startled and Hunk to scream. “BLOODY HELL WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM?!” Hunk screams.

Pidge whacks his arm. “Don’t yell! We were actually looking for Coran, but he’s with Slav at his hut outside. Come on, we should hurry before Lance is leaving a trail of slugs.” She leads them through the castle and out to Slav’s hut.

Once they get outside, they see Lubos saying goodbye to a very sullen-looking Slav. Lubos gives the kids a wave before he walks back into the castle. Lance and Keith exchange a disgusted look before continuing to follow Pidge and Hunk to the hut. Once Slav sees them, his demeanor brightens and he motions for the kids to come inside, but, before they enter, Lance stops to puke out another slug.

“Oh dear!” Slav exclaims. “Hunk, grab that bucket for Lance here.”

“Can you help him?” Keith asks as he helps Lance sit down in a chair.

“I am afraid not, but it looks only temporary so he just has to bear through it.” Slav pats Lance on the head as he pukes out another slug. “Better out than in!”

Pidge skips over to where Coran is tending to Slav’s plants. “Coran! Hunk and I have been looking all over for you! We found that pot Matt borrowed from you, but you weren’t at your office so we left it outside the door.”

“Oh, thank you! I’m sorry I wasn’t in my office, Slav asked for my help with his plants. Something had been eating at them, but I can’t figure out what,” Coran shares. He sets down the tool he was using and turns to everyone else. “Now, how did Lance get cursed with vomiting out slugs?”

Keith sighs and looks at the ground. “Damien and I were arguing. He and Bethany were saying Lance didn’t belong at Quidditch tryouts so I defended him, obviously. I told them I’d punch them again, but then Damien called me a mudblood…”

Hunk pats Keith’s shoulder. “Someone hasn’t called Keith that since the beginning of last year.”

Slav sits down in front of Keith and places an arm on each of Keith’s shoulders, forcing him to look at Slav. “Keith, do not listen to them. You are much more important than you think. There are several realities where you save a lot of people.”

Keith nods. “Thank you, Slav, but I know not to listen to them. They’re not worth my time.”

Slav smiles. “Good then! Now, I do not think Lance has puked up a slug in quite a while. Perhaps the spell wore off.”

Lance nods. “I think so too, but I still feel sick.”

“Too sick for a signed photograph of you and Keith?” Coran asks.

Keith whirls around and glares at him. “What?!”

Coran smirks then starts laughing. “I’m kidding!”

Hunk, Pidge, and Slav start laughing too. “Oh! He got you good!” Hunk exclaims.

Keith rolls his eyes and smiles. “Shut up…” He looks over at Lance and exchanges a smile with him.

“Now, I-” Coran starts, but a knock on the door interrupts him. Slav walks over to the door and finds Allura standing there. She smiles when she sees everyone.

“Hello. I am sorry to interrupt, but it is time for Keith and Lance to serve their detentions,” she says sullenly. She motions for Keith and Lance to follow her.

Lance sets down the bucket full of slugs and carefully walks over to Allura. Keith hugs Pidge and fist bumps Hunk before joining Allura and Lance. They wave goodbye and make their way back into the castle. “Lance, you will be assisting the caretaker, Varkon Gallucci, with whatever he needs around the school. Keith, you will be helping Professor Lubos in his office with what he needs.”

Lance groans. “What?! The Warden?! Oh, come on! Allura…please!”

Allura sighs. “Lance, please do not make this harder for me. Thace wanted to make the both of you help him, but I prevented that from happening.” They arrive at Varkon’s office and Keith scrunches his nose in disgust at the state of the office.

Varkon named himself “The Warden” after Matt Holt gave him the idea from making fun of him one day. He didn’t pick up on Matt’s mockery and now everyone else has to suffer by calling him The Warden.

Thanks for nothing Matt.

“He should be here in a moment. I am going to drop Keith off at Lubos’s office, but I will be back to check up on you Lance, okay?” Allura asks. She smiles at him and ruffles his hair before walking down the hall with Keith. They approach Lubos’s office and Allura knocks on the door.

“Come in!” a cheery voice exclaims from behind the door.

Allura opens the door and steps inside with Keith. “Lubos? Keith’s here to assist you.”

Lubos smiles widely when he sees Keith. “Ah! Keith Kogane! It’s always a pleasure!” He turns to Allura. “I can take it from here, Allura. Thank you for bringing him.”

She nods then turns to Keith. “You will be okay, Keith.” She squeezes his shoulder then walks out the door.

Lubos beckons for Keith to come to his desk. “Alright, you will be helping me answer my fan mail! I get so much of it and I need help sorting through it.” He dumps a pile of letters on the desk.

Keith’s eyes widen at the massive pile, wishing he could be anywhere but here. He’d rather be doing whatever insane tasks The Warden has Lance doing. Anything could be better than this!

“Don’t be a stranger! Have a seat and we’ll get started,” Lubos instructs with a smile.

Keith begrudgingly grabs a chair from one of the tables and pushes it in front of Lubos desk before grabbing a letter and opening it. He gags at the strong scent of perfume sprayed all over the parchment. He looks at Lubos. “Do you seriously get letters where women sprayed scented stuff on it?”

He nods. “I do! It’s the life of a celebrity…soon you’ll be dealing with it!” He smiles widely then hands Keith a stack of unaddressed envelopes and a pile of Lubos’s portraits. “Here, address the envelope to whoever sent me a letter and put in a signed photo of me.”

“But these pictures aren’t signed,” Keith says as Lubos begins working on a stack of his own.

“You’ll be signing my name so that way it’ll go faster,” Lubos replies.

Keith blinks at him, unamused.

Lubos sighs. “Look, here’s an example of my signature.” He quickly signs a blank paper and slides it to Keith. “It’s not very hard to copy. When you’re done, place them in the box over there, alright?” He points to a large box beside his stack of autobiographies.

Keith rolls his eyes, but sits back down and begins working. The first couple signatures he writes on the portraits don’t look very good, but eventually he gets the hang of it and is able to work faster. He finishes a decently sized stack and stands up to bring it to the box.

Lance would probably love doing this stupid job. Keith would rather go around the school getting things done. At least that way he wouldn’t be cooped up in this office with-

 

_ Come to me… _

 

_ Let me rip you… _

 

_ Let me tear you… _

 

Keith jumps startled at the voice. He looks around the room to try to find the source of the voice. He turns to Lubos. “Did you hear that voice?”

Lubos looks up from his paper and tilts his head in confusion. “What voice? I didn’t hear anything.”

Keith drops the letters he had in his hands in the box and breathes heavily. What could this mean? Was he going crazy? This can’t be good…

“Uh, well, we’ve been working pretty late…why don’t you head back to your dorm? I’ll inform the headmaster and headmistress you fulfilled your detention duties,” Lubos says with a nervous smile. “Have a good night, Keith.”

He nods at Lubos and hurries out of the room, quickly making his way to the Slytherin common room.

The thought of the chilling voice plagues Keith for the rest of the night…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update on the Cops AU: The reason why it's taking so long to be posted is because I'm making it so each case is a single chapter, but it's still being written!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com)


	8. This is Halloween This is Halloween...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> October rolls in, bringing Quidditch team results. Keith is more than ecstatic to see that Lance made the Gryffindor team, considering he did fantastic during tryouts. Nearly-Headless Nick, the Gryffindor house ghost, invites them to his 500th Deathday party, but while there, they discover something very unnerving...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pumpkins SCREAM in the dead of night  
> THIS IS HALLOWEEN, everybody make a SCENE  
> Trick or treat 'till the neighbors gonna die of fright  
> It's our town, everybody SCREAM  
> In this town of Halloween...
> 
> Cheesy title, I know, but IDC LOL! I'm on fall break so I hope to get another chapter or two up before I head back to school.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

October rolls in, bringing nothing interesting…except for the Quidditch team results. Keith, Hunk, Lance, and Pidge make their way over to the postings outside the Great Hall, nervous and excited to see the teams. Keith immediately looks at the Slytherin results first to see who replaced the seventh years from last year:

Keith’s jaw drops in shock when he sees Damien’s name on the roster. How the heck did he make the team? All he did was make fun of Lance! What the heck was Cooper thinking?! Oh well, he can’t be too upset since he’s just an emergency sub. Keith is happy to see Reyna McGivney’s name on the list this year. She couldn’t try out last year because she got very sick at the beginning of the year and missed tryouts. Ryland was super upset about it because he knew how talented his sister was.

Lance screams from next to him. “BLOODY HELL! I MADE IT!” He turns and smiles widely at Keith, pointing at the Gryffindor roster sheet:

Keith laughs and hugs Lance tightly. “I knew you would! You were amazing during tryouts.”

“Whoa…” Hunk trails off in shock from next to Lance.

Keith and Lance release each other, turning to him and seeing him with a shocked expression looking at the Hufflepuff roster. Keith steps forward to take a look for himself:

“Hunk! You made the team! That’s awesome!” Keith exclaims, smiling widely. “You’re the Hufflepuff Keeper!”

“This is too much pressure…I can’t do it,” Hunk replies, starting to panic.

“Hunk, don’t think like that,” Lance says. “You obviously wowed Audrey enough for her to pick you as her team’s Keeper. You should be proud!”

“Yeah, at least you made the team,” Pidge grumbles from the other side of Hunk.

Keith walks over to her and peers at the Ravenclaw roster:

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Pidge,” Hunk says, patting her on the shoulder. “You can always try again next year.”

Lance smiles widely at Pidge. “Yeah! Nothing can stop you when you put your mind to it, Pidge. There’s nothing you can’t do.”

Pidge nods and gives him a sincere smile, but Keith can tell she’s still upset about it. “Hey, well, we better head off to Herbology,” Keith says, changing the subject. “We’ll see you two later…good luck at Potions.” He grabs Pidge’s arm and waves goodbye to Lance and Hunk before they can say anything else. Keith drags Pidge along, ignoring her protests.

She grunts and pulls her arm away from Keith. “What was that?! Why did you just pull us away from Hunk and Lance?!”

“Because I could tell you were getting irritated with the conversation,” Keith replies. “Lance and Hunk can be a bit…overbearing sometimes.” He looks down. “Sorry if I misunderstood, I-” he stops talking when Pidge suddenly hugs him, wrapping her arms around his waist tightly.

“Thank you, Keith,” Pidge whispers. She hugs him for a couple seconds longer before releasing him as if nothing happened. They walk in silence to Herbology, ready to learn whatever Coran has planned for them today.

The rest of the week continues just the same for Keith…Quidditch practice, classes, nothing interesting. Not that Keith isn’t complaining! It’s nice to not be hunted down and almost murdered for once, but  _ something _ interesting could happen. If Carlos and Ryland were still here, Keith could get into some mischief with them like pulling some pranks on Damien and Bethany, or Thace. Perhaps Matt would have something fun for him to do? Maybe Lance wants to join Keith in doing this?

Keith stops in his tracks on his way to Allura’s office when he gets the feeling someone is following him. He turns around and sees someone dart behind a corner.  _ Seriously? _ He just wanted to go ask for some help on a spell in  _ peace _ . Keith carefully pulls his wand out and slowly makes his way over. Once close enough, Keith yells and jumps on the person, tackling them to the ground. He points his wand at their head and goes to yell some more, but he finally recognizes the person. “Lance?!”

Lance smiles sheepishly from underneath Keith. “Boo!” He giggles and reaches up to poke Keith’s nose. “Did you forget you have a wand to use?”

Keith sighs and sits back up on Lance’s lap, allowing Lance to sit up from the ground. “I grew up in foster homes, Lance. I had to learn how to defend myself and sometimes I forget.”

Lance giggles again. “It’s okay, Keith.” He smiles at Keith again before looking at their current position. “Could you get off please? I can’t feel my legs.”

Keith’s eyes widen and he scrambles off Lance, feeling his cheeks heat up.  _ How does Lance fluster him like this? It doesn’t make any sense! _ “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be! You didn’t do anything wrong!” Lance hops to his feet and offers a hand to help Keith up. “Come on, let’s go visit Matt. I’m pretty sure he said Slav was going to be in his classroom today doing something.” Keith accepts Lance’s hand and is pulled to his feet. “Okay, so - oh! Hey Nick!”

Keith turns around and sees the Gryffindor ghost, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington - nicknamed Nearly-Headless Nick, floating in front of them. Each of the Hogwarts houses have their own house ghost. Hufflepuff’s ghost is the Fat Friar, Ravenclaw’s is The Grey Lady (Helena Ravenclaw), and Slytherin’s is The Bloody Baron. Keith tends to stay away from Slytherin’s house ghost because he scares him a bit.

Nick sighs and waves to them. “Hello Lance and Keith.”

Lance tilts his head in confusion. “What’s wrong, Nick?”

“Oh nothing…it’s just that I’ve been rejected from the Headless Hunt yet again!” Nick exclaims. “Only because my head doesn’t come completely off!”

Keith tilts his head in confusion. “How can your head not come completely off?”

“Like this.” He grabs his hair and pulls to the right, revealing where his head was severed off. He sees the chipped bone on his neck and the red, mushy muscles surrounding the bone. Keith cringes and looks away while Lance smiles widely at it.

“That’s so cool!” Lance exclaims. “How-”

A meow from a cat interrupts them. Keith and Lance. They turn and see Laika, The Warden’s cat, sitting there, licking her paw. “Oh dear! You two must hurry off before-”

“YOU TWO!” someone yells.

Keith and Lance whirl around and see The Warden standing there, pointing at them. They exchange worried expressions with each other as The Warden marches up to them and grabs them by their collars. “Come with me you two! You’re in deep trouble!” He drags them into his office and immediately sits at his desk to write up a punishment complaint. “Do you have any idea the amount of trouble you’re in?! I ought to have-”

_ CRASH _

The Warden looks up from his desk and glances outside. “What the bloody hell was that? Stay here! I’m going to investigate!” He sets down the quill and hurries out the door, closely followed by Laika.

“I can’t have any more detentions,” Lance whispers. “Isa will  _ kill _ me.”

Keith turns to The Warden’s desk and begins looking at the papers on it. “Don’t worry, I’m sure Matt will get us out of it.” An opened piece of mail catches Keith’s eye as he scans over the paper. “What’s this?” He lifts it up and sees the word  _ Kwikspell _ written on it.

“Kwikspell? I think it’s a book for wizards who aren’t fully magical. Lucy did a report on those last year,” Lance explains. “I wonder-”

“Don’t you see Laika? Peeves the Poltergeist will be expelled after this catastrophe!” The Warden exclaims from outside the door.

Keith quickly puts the package down before The Warden walks in. Lance and Keith turn around as he walks in. The Warden opens his mouth to say something else, but stops when he sees the Kwikspell package close to Keith’s arm. “Did you read that package?!”

“What package?” Keith asks innocently.

“The one…nevermind! Just get out of my office! Don’t let me catch you out here again!” he yells, shooing Lance and Keith out of his office before slamming the door shut.

Nick approaches Lance and Keith once they’re out of the office. “Are you two alright? I told Peeves to cause a distraction to get you out of trouble.”

Lance smiles and nods. “Yes, thank you. The Warden let us off the hook. Now, is there anything we can do to help you with your rejection from the Headless Hunt?”

Nick smiles widely at that. “Actually, there is! You could attend my 500 th Deathday party on Halloween night, last door on the left in the dungeons! While there, you could mention to the other headless ghosts how impressive and frightening all the students find me!”

Internally, Keith groans at the thought of attending a party full of ghosts, but Nick  _ did _ help them out. He turns to Lance and nods. Lance smiles at Keith then turns back to Nick. “Sure! We’ll go! Do you mind if we invite two of our other friends? Pidge Holt and Hunk Garett?”

“Yes! Of course! The more the merrier!” Nick exclaims. “I have to go now, but I will look forward to seeing you two and your friends on Halloween!” He waves goodbye and disappears through a wall.

“Hunk’s common room is on the way to mine, could you stop by Pidge’s and tell her?” Lance asks Keith.

Keith nods. “Yeah, sure. I’ll see you later, Lance.” He gives Lance a quick hug before hurrying off towards the Ravenclaw common room. Luckily, he runs into Matt on the way there. “Hey Matt, have you seen Pidge?”

He nods. “She just went inside; do you need her for something?”

“Actually, could you pass a message off to her? The Gryffindor ghost, Nearly-Headless Nick, invited us to his 500 th Deathday party and she’s invited too. It’s on Halloween,” Keith explains. “Could you tell her to meet us outside the Great Hall?”

Matt nods. “Sure thing, Keith! Tell me how it goes! I’ve always wanted to know what a Deathday party consists of!”

Keith chuckles. “Sure thing, Matt. Thanks again!” He waves goodbye as he continues off towards the Slytherin common room, suddenly tired after what he’s dealt with tonight.

As he changes into his pajamas, he hears the whispering voice again…

 

_ Time is running out… _

 

_ Soon it will happen again… _

 

_ Beware… _

 

Keith shakes his head, trying to ignore the voices as he attempts to fall asleep…

 

* * *

 

Another couple more days of school and Quidditch practice finally leads up to Halloween day. After Charms, Lance and Keith wait in front of the Great Hall for Hunk and Pidge to arrive after their Defense Against the Dark Arts class with Lubos -  _ ugh _ \- before they head off for Nick’s Deathday party. “Maybe Lubos killed them of boredom because he was babbling on about himself,” Keith comments bitterly, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

Lance chuckles. “C’mon Keith, don’t be so down! We are going to a  _ Death _ day celebration after all!” He elbows Keith playfully and smiles.

Keith tries to bite back his smirk, but can’t help but laugh with Lance too. Hunk and Pidge rush over to them, slightly out of breath. “Sorry we’re late! Lubos wouldn’t shut up about himself,” Pidge says.

Keith raises an eyebrow and turns to Lance with an  _ I told you so _ expression on his face. “Hmm…you don’t say?”

“Oh, shut up Keith!” Lance exclaims, shoving him away lightly. “Come on, let’s get to the party.”

Keith laughs loudly with Pidge as Lance leads them through the long hallways of Hogwarts until they come to the staircases. “What floor did Nick tell you two again?” Pidge wonders as they start descending down a flight of stairs.

“Third floor, first door on the right,” Lance answers confidently, but then furrows his eyebrows. “Or was it the first-floor, second to last door on the left?”

Pidge groans. “You  _ don’t remember _ ?! Lance! You had  _ one job _ !”

“I’ve had a lot on my mind, okay?! Thace was extra mean today!” Lance defends, crossing his arms.

Keith sighs. “Dungeons, last door on the left.”

“Thank you, Keith,” Pidge replies, brushing past Lance. “Lance, you can’t let Thace get on your nerves like that all the time. You’re a great wizard and he’s just a jerk.” She begins walking down the hallway. “Do you understand me, Lance?” When he doesn’t reply, she turns to look at him. “Lance?”

He looks up at her. “Huh? Oh…uh…yes I understand.”

She smiles. “Good!” She puts her hand on the door handle. “Shall we go inside then?”

Keith, Lance, and Hunk nod and Pidge opens the door, revealing hundreds of see-through figures, old and spooky decorations, a table of rotting food, and hear awful, scratchy music. They enter, continuing to look around. Hunk grimaces. “Oh…this is lovely?”

“Thank you!” a voice exclaims from behind them, causing them to jump.

They turn around and see Nearly-Headless Nick floating there. “Oh, hello Nick!” Lance exclaims. “Lovely party!”

He laughs. “Quite the turnout! Now, come on in and enjoy the party! Mingle and such! I’ll introduce you to the Head of the Headless Hunt when he arrives!” Nick floats away to go greet some more guests.

Keith looks around the room and watches the ghosts dance with each other and walk through the table of rotting food, trying to taste it. Lance grabs Keith’s arm and brings him slowly over to the table to examine it. “I dare you to try some of the soup,” Lance taunts, smirking at Keith.

“What?! No! The hell is wrong with you?” Keith asks.

Pidge suddenly pops up between them. “We need to go somewhere else right now.”

Lance turns and looks at her. “What? Why?”

“ _ Just move! _ ” Pidge urges through clenched teeth. She shoves them away from the food table, but stops when Lance refuses to move any further.

“Pidge! What is it!” Lance demands.

“I saw Moaning Myrtle, the annoying ghost who haunts the first-floor bathroom,” Pidge explains. “Now if we hurry, we-”

“Oh Myrtle!” someone exclaims from behind Keith. “These four were just talking about you!”

Hunk groans and rubs his forehead. “Peeves…jeez.”

Keith watches as a young ghost girl floats over to them. She has brown hair that is pulled into pigtails and round glasses. “What is it?!”

“I heard these four making fun of you!” Peeves exclaims.

“No! We weren’t!” Pidge exclaims. “We were just saying how nice you look tonight!”

“LIES!” she yells. “What did you mock about me? That I’m fat? Ugly? Mopey?!”

“You’ve forgotten pimply!” Peeves offers.

Myrtle bursts into tears and floats away, clearly upset. Lance glares at Peeves. “That was rude! She didn’t do anything wrong!”

Peeves laughs maniacally then floats away. Hunk rolls his eyes. “Don’t bother with him, Lance. He’s obnoxious.”

“Ah! Here they are!” Nick exclaims from nearby. “Pidge, Keith, Lance, and Hunk, I’d like you to meet Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore, the head of the Headless Hunt!”

Keith bites his tongue and clenches his fist, getting fed up with being here. He turns to Lance and mouths,  _ I want to leave _ . Lance nods and elbows Hunk who gets Pidge’s attention. While Nick starts giving a speech to the rest of the Headless Hunt ghosts, Keith and his friends take the opportunity to slip out of the room.

Once out, Pidge shuts the door quietly and sighs of relief. “Thank goodness that’s over. It stunk in there!”

“Why did we agree to do-”

 

_ It is time… _

 

_ Time to kill… _

 

Keith looks around, eyes wide in fear. “The hell? Did you guys hear that?!”

“Hear what, Keith?” Hunk asks, concerned.

“I didn’t hear anything,” Pidge says.

“I heard something. It’s time to kill? What the bloody hell does that mean?” Lance asks, exchanging a scared expression with Keith.

 

_ Kill…kill…kill… _

 

Keith immediately takes off running down the corridor with Lance, following the sound of the voice. Pidge and Hunk follow quickly after them. They round a corner and immediately step in water. Keith looks around in confusion at the flooded water and turns around when he hears Lance gasp. His eyes widen when he sees words written on the wall in blood:

 

_ The Cavern of Mysteries has been opened… _

_ Enemies of the Heir, Beware! _

 

Lance screams again and grabs Keith’s hand in terror. Keith turns to where Lance is pointing and sees a stiff, hanging cat on the ceiling. He recognizes the cat as Laika.

Keith starts breathing heavily. “What the hell…”

“Holy hell…” Hunk gasps from behind them.

“What-” Pidge starts when suddenly the walls and floors begin to rumble, filling with people coming out of the Great Hall from the Halloween feast. Some students scream when they see the writing on the walls and the limp cat.

A voice speaks out from the crowd. “Enemies of the Heir, Beware?”

Keith turns and sees Damien reading the words from the wall. He meets Keith’s gaze and smirks evilly. “You’ll be next, Mudbloods!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEHEHE CLIFF HANGER! I regret nothing! The plot will thicken soon...I swear. I've been watching Harry Potter movies all weekend and I'm so PUMPED for the next book.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com)


	9. Plotting Schemes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After getting caught in front of the bloody words on the wall, Shiro takes Keith and Lance aside to question them about what happened. Turns out, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, but Keith can't help the feeling inside that he has something to do with all of this. Lance assures Keith he wouldn't do any of that and works with him to figure out who _could_ be capable of something like this...perhaps it's someone they know?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one week! Chapter 10 is all written too so I'll try to get that up ASAP before college starts up again for me.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Keith watches as The Warden pushes forward through the professors and screams when he sees Laika. “MY CAT!” He points an accusing finger at Lance and Keith. “YOU TWO! You killed her! You killed Laika!”

“What?! No, we-” Lance starts, but Shiro steps forward.

“Enough! Everyone, back to your common rooms!” He stops and points at Lance and Keith. “Except you two."

"Come, let’s meet somewhere private," Shiro instructs.  


Pidge and Hunk give Keith and Lance a sympathetic expression before following their houses to their respective common rooms. “Oh! My office is right nearby so we can meet there!” Lubos suddenly exclaims with a wide smile.

Keith rolls his eyes and turns to Lance, clearly unhappy. Lance gives Keith a sympathetic smile and takes his hand, giving it a squeeze before following Shiro and Lubos to Lubos’s office. Allura and Thace bring The Warden and Laika behind them.

Once at his office, Keith gags at the sight of all Lubos’s preening portraits of himself.  He forgot how much he hates it in here . Lance takes a seat and pulls Keith down next to him while Shiro examines Laika. Allura runs her fingers through her hair, pacing back and forth. Thace glares at Lance and Keith, probably under the impression they  _ did _ do something to the cat.

“You know, if I had been there…I would have been able to produce just the counter curse!” Lubos exclaims.

“Blasphemy!” The Warden yells. “Headmaster, did they murder her?!”

Shiro sets his wand down. “Laika is not dead, Varkon, she is merely petrified. Besides, the amount of magic needed to complete a dark spell of this magnitude could not be achieved by two second years.”

Allura sighs of relief. “Thank goodness for that! What can be done to help her, Shiro?”

“Well, soon enough the school will have enough Mandrakes to make a restorative potion,” Shiro shares.

“I will be more than glad to make the potion myself!” Lubos exclaims.

Allura huffs and crosses her arms. “That won’t be necessary, Lubos. Coran and Thace are capable enough on their own to brew the potion.”

“No! This cannot be true! These two know I’m a Squib and therefore attacked my cat!” The Warden exclaims.

“Mmm, they  _ were _ in a peculiar place tonight. I didn’t see either of them nor their other friends at the Halloween feast,” Thace comments.

“We were at Nearly-Headless Nick’s 500 th Deathday party,” Lance shares. “That’s why we weren’t at the Halloween feast.”

Thace crosses his arms. “Why didn’t you come straight to the feast afterwards?”

Lance falters and turns to Keith with a worried expression on his face. Keith sighs and turns to Thace. “We were tired and wanted to go to bed. We were heading to our common rooms when we found Laika hanging from the ceiling.”

Thace turns to Shiro. “They’re lying. I say they be taken off their Quidditch teams until they’re ready to tell the truth.”

Shiro shakes his head no. “That won’t be necessary, Thace. I think they are telling the truth. Now, Allura, would you escort Lance to the Gryffindor common room? I’ll take-”

Keith stands up abruptly. “No. I want Allura to take me. I have to ask her something anyway so it seems most logical.” He avoids Shiro’s confused/hurt expression.

“That works for me!” Allura exclaims, placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Ready, Keith?”

He nods and hurries out of the office, leaving Lance without an explanation or a goodbye. Keith storms down the hallway past the scene of the crime once again. A few students, along with Lance’s siblings (Hannah, Lucy, and Marco) remain there, staring at the words on the wall. A few of them glare at Keith like  _ he’s _ the one who did it, but Hannah steps forward and shoos them away from Keith. He raises an eyebrow when he sees Lucy just standing there, staring at the words in horror. He walks up to ask her what’s wrong, but Allura takes his arm and brings him along. “Keith, I know you did not just ask me to escort you just because you had a question. What is troubling you? Do not tell me it is still Shiro, is it?”

“Okay, then I won’t tell you it’s Shiro,” Keith replies bitterly.

Allura sighs. “Keith, you do not understand the things he had to go through when wanting to adopt you. There are too many variables and the Ministry will not allow it.”

Keith clenches his fists. “He put me in that  _ hellhole _ , Allura! I hate it at that foster home! They’re so mean!” He holds back a sob. “It was like a prison there…Lance, Carlos, and Ryland rescued me, but I can’t go back there.”

Allura steps in front of Keith and kneels in front of him. “Oh, honey…is it really like that? I had no idea. Shiro would not tell me anything more about the arrangement, but, if this is true, I will talk to him, okay? Come here.” She pulls him in for a tight hug. “I will talk to Shiro, the Minister of Magic, and Luis McClain. He mentioned taking you in after Carlos told him of what happened.”

Keith nods and holds Allura tightly, trying not to cry. “Thank you,” he whispers.

After a few more seconds, Allura releases him and nods. “You are welcome, Keith.” She leads him the rest of the way to the Slytherin common room before waving goodbye.

Keith waves goodbye to her then enters the room after saying the password. He ignores the stares he gets from the people in the room and heads up to his bed. He changes into his pajamas and gets under of the blankets, ready to fall asleep, but the words on the walls plague his dreams…

 

* * *

 

 

The next day after lunch, Keith finds himself dozing off during Coran’s History of Magic lesson. As much as Keith adores and loves the man, he gets extra boring in this class. Hunk elbows Keith to wake him up before raising his hand.

“Ah! Yes, Hunk?” Coran asks.

“Professor, do you think you could tell us about the Cavern of Mysteries?” Hunk asks with an innocent smile.

The rest of the class perks up after hearing this. Coran sighs and sets down the book he was holding. “Alright, very well. As you all know Hogwarts was founded by four wizards, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They created this institution as a safe learning place to bring up bright, young witches and wizards. All went smoothly until Salazar Slytherin said he wanted to put limits on who was admitted into the school. He wanted to keep it solely for students with all-wizard families, or, in other words, Purebloods. He wished to exclude all Muggleborn witches and wizards from the school,” he explains. “The other three were offended by this suggestion and immediately disagreed with it. Salazar Slytherin was outraged and abandoned the school, only after he built a hidden Cavern of Mysteries that contained a monster who would wipe out all non-Pureblood witches and wizards from Hogwarts. He claimed only his heir would be able to control it.”

“So, the heir is here now?” Keith hears Bethany ask from the back of the classroom. “Could it be one of us?”

“I don’t-” Coran starts.

“Are we going to die?” another kid wonders.

The class erupts in chaos, everyone asking Coran a different question about the cavern. Coran raises his hand to silence everyone. “Alright! That’s enough. It’s all folklore anyway,” he shares. “The school has been searched many, many times and no  _ cavern _ has been found! It was concluded as a ruse made by Salazar Slytherin to scare everyone. Now, back to my original lesson: history of broomsticks!”

Keith looks down at his desk, suddenly overcome with worry about all of this. He begins to question himself about possibly being the heir to Slytherin. When he was sorted last year, he begged the hat to not put him in Slytherin because of all the nasty rumors he heard about that house. He asked for Gryffindor or Hufflepuff - basically any house other than Slytherin, but the hat  _ insisted _ Slytherin would make him great so it placed him there anyway.

Maybe he  _ is _ connected to Salazar Slytherin after all? It makes sense seeing as though he can hear the weird voice, but it doesn’t explain how  _ Lance _ could hear it! He did say the hat wanted to place him in Ravenclaw as well.

Oh well, Keith would have to ask him after Astronomy.

Once Coran releases them, Hunk and Keith head to Matt’s classroom and spend most of the class studying for an upcoming test they have. Instead of studying, Keith asks to use Matt’s library in his office to look for information on the school founders. He doesn’t find much, but luckily time goes by quickly and Matt lets them go.

Outside, Keith finds Lance and Pidge waiting for him and Hunk. Keith finds himself smiling widely as he runs over to Lance. “You alright there, Keith?” he chuckles, grabbing Keith’s arms to steady him when he runs over. “I don’t think I’ve seen you smile this much before.”

Keith frowns. “Shut up! Come on, I have something important to talk with you about.” He turns to Pidge and Hunk. “We’ll see you two later!” He grabs Lance and pulls him along.

“Whoa! Keith! Slow down!” Lance exclaims. “What’s gotten into you?”

Keith stops and turns to Lance. “I think I’m the heir to Slytherin.”

“ _ What?! _ ” Lance demands. “Keith, have you gone  _ mad _ ?! You can’t be the heir!”

“It makes sense! I’m in Slytherin, I can hear that voice, and everyone already suspects me!” Keith exclaims.

“Then explain how  _ I _ can hear the voice too?” Lance raises an eyebrow. “Mhmm, that’s what I thought! Keith, just because you’re in Slytherin doesn’t mean you’re the heir. I don’t know why I can hear the voice too, but I know neither of us are the heir.”

Keith sighs and crosses his arms. “Did the hat want to put you in Slytherin?”

“No. It wanted to put me in Ravenclaw,” Lance replies. “Though…I am a pureblood so I guess I could have been in Slytherin?”

“Then explain me, Lance,” Keith implores as they continue walking down the hallway. “How am I in Slytherin if I’m not a pureblood?”

“Well, Keith, you don’t know you’re not a pureblood since you never met your parents,” Lance replies. He sees Keith’s face falter so he takes his hand. “Not that that’s a bad thing, of course. A little mystery is good for the soul.” Lance offers Keith a smile.

Keith returns it, but frowns again when they walk down the hallway that has the writing on the wall. It brings a shiver to Keith’s spine so he looks away and notices a line of spiders hastily escaping through a window. Lance yelps and jumps behind Keith when he sees them. “I hate spiders!” Lance whimpers.

Keith rolls his eyes. “I’ll protect you from the little things.” He furrows his eyebrows when he sees a small trail of water coming from the bathroom. “Hey, remember all that water that was there the night of the attack? Do you think it came from the bathroom?”

Lance looks at the trail and then at the bathroom door. “Maybe! We could take a look. Pidge says this is Myrtle’s bathroom, right? Well, no one should be in it since Myrtle is super annoying.”

“Ugh…fine,” Keith begrudgingly agrees. “Lead the way.”

Lance opens the door to the girl’s bathroom and scrunches his face up at the  sight . “Well, this is depressing.”

Keith grimaces at the sight of the bathroom. Everything is either grey, white, or black in the room. In the center, there is a circle of sinks with drains surrounding them and to the right and left are the stalls to the toilets. It doesn’t look like this place has been touched in years…or cleaned…

“What do you expect!” a voice shouts from one of the stalls. Myrtle floats through the door with her arms crossed. “Come to insult me some more!?”

“No, we were just-” Lance starts.

Keith rolls his eyes. “Come on, Lance. This was stupid coming in here. We’re going to be late to class.” He looks up at Myrtle. “Goodbye, Myrtle.”

She brightens up a bit when she sees Keith. “Oh! Goodbye, Keith!” She giggles and floats away.

Lance scoffs and pulls Keith out of the bathroom, but causes them to run into Hannah McClain. Her eyes widen. “What the bloody hell were you two doing in there?!” She frantically looks around to see if any professors are nearby. Keith narrows his eyes when he sees Hannah’s blue tie and buttons on her shirt had been hastily done.

Wait a minute… _ blue tie?! _

“Uh, Hannah? Why are you wearing a Ravenclaw tie?” Keith wonders.

She looks down and her cheeks immediately flush up.

She covers it up with her hand. “Um! Never mind that! Off to class with you two!” She hugs them quickly then shoves them away in the direction of the Charms classroom.

Keith and Lance exchange a confused expression, but shrug it off and head off to Charms class. They spend the time trying to focus, but end up discussing more theories about who could be the heir. Luckily Professor Holt doesn’t notice them  talking about this . Keith pulls out a parchment of paper and his quill then titles it:

 

_ Heir of Slytherin Possibilities: _

 

“Okay, so, who should we write down?” Keith asks, turning back to Lance.

“Damien and Bethany for sure,” Lance replies.

 

_ Damien Morrison _

_ Bethany Mathesi _

 

Keith ponders for a moment then begins writing his own name down.

 

_ Keith Kc _

 

Suddenly Lance snatches the quill out of Keith’s hand before he can finish the o and scribbles out Keith’s name.

 

~~_ Keith Kc _ ~~

 

He then turns to glare at Keith. “Are you serious?! You are not the heir, Keith.” Lance snatches the parchment from Keith too. “Now can we actually list off some possible candidates? Realistic ones?”

“I am realistic!” Keith exclaims in a whisper.

Lance shakes his head no then continues to write down some names that Marco, Hannah, and Lucy have said were some mean people in their grades from Slytherin who hate Mudbloods. Keith watches Lance focus on writing names then scratching out the same ones he already wrote down. He sighs and sets the quill down. “None of the people I can think of could be capable of this.” Lance turns to Keith and they share a knowing expression.

The only two possibilities are either Damien Morrison or Bethany Mathesi.

Professor Holt claps his hands together at the front of the room. “Mr. Kogane, Mr. McClain! The lesson is up here, not on that parchment of paper you’re writing on.” He gives them a smile before returning to the board. Keith sighs and brings his attention back to the board.

At least Professor Holt isn’t as boring as Coran can be…

After dinner, Lance and Keith meet Pidge and Hunk in the library to discuss what they think and both Hunk and Pidge agree on the fact that Damien could be the heir. “I mean it makes sense!” Pidge exclaims. “He did shout ‘you’ll be next Mudbloods’ after we saw the writing on the wall.”

“How can we confirm it? We can’t just ask him,” Lance says. “He won’t talk to any of us!”

“We could find out by making a Polyjuice potion to turn ourselves into his friends and ask him in the Slytherin common room,” Pidge suggests.

Hunk shakes his head no. “What? It can’t be that easy!”

Keith nods in agreement. “Yeah, plus isn’t that potion super hard to make?”

“That doesn’t matter! I can get Matt to help us out,” Pidge reasons. “Come on guys! This plan is foolproof!”

Lance turns to them and nods happily. “Yeah, if anyone can help us, it’s Matt!”

Keith and Hunk exchange a skeptical expression, but eventually shrug.  _ What could go wrong? _ “Alright, fine! We’ll do it!” Hunk exclaims.

Pidge pumps her fist in the air and jumps up. “YES! Okay, well, it’s getting late. You guys should head back to your common rooms.” She runs out the door.

“Wait!” Hunk exclaims. “What are you doing?!”

She pops her head back in and smiles widely. “Finding my brother, of course! See you guys tomorrow!” She waves goodbye and runs off again.

Keith exchanges a shrug with Lance and Hunk before they collect their books and split off to their respective common rooms. Perhaps this plan will work…Damien  _ does _ seem like a better candidate than either Keith or Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really have a thing for cliffhangers...I'm not sorry about that lol. I'm trying to chug through this book because I'm really excited for what I have planned for the third book (and no you won't get a book title out of me - that'd be a spoiler!)
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com)


	10. Slytherin vs. Gryffindor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quidditch starts up again with the opening match of the year being Slytherin versus Gryffindor. Keith feels Slytherin has a good chance at winning, but now that Lance is on the team, who knows what will happen?
> 
> Turns out a lot can happen. People get injured, Lubos screws up, and more people get petrified! What a way to start the season off!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh this has been delayed too long, I'm sorry.
> 
> Enjoy anyway.

Friday night, while Keith and his friends are doing homework in the Great Hall, Matt bursts into the room holding a book in the air above his head. He runs over to the four kids and sets the book down in front of them. “I got it!” he exclaims. “Had to raid dad’s library for it, but he won’t be missing it anytime soon.”

Pidge opens up the book and immediately starts flipping through the book. Keith turns to Matt. “Why are you helping us?” he wonders.

Matt chuckles and takes a seat next to Keith. “Because I  _ love _ getting into mischief with students. Back when I was a student here with Shiro and Allura, we always stirred up trouble, but now that I’m a professor…I can’t do it as much as I’d like to.”

Lance snickers. “Well, that’s good to know! How come you haven’t gotten in trouble for this yet?”

Pidge scoffs. “Shiro won’t fire his best friend - ah ha! Found it!”

Hunk peers over her shoulder and his jaw drops. “Whoa…this is a really complicated potion. How are we going to get all these ingredients?” He squints and grabs the book from Pidge. “Lemme see that.”

“I’m afraid it takes about a month to brew the potion,” Matt says sullenly.

Hunk scoffs. “A month minimum! See, I knew this was a stupid and risky idea!” He turns to Keith. “Keith, come on, you knew this was a bad idea from the start.”

Keith nods. “Yeah, guys, we don’t have a month to wait for this. Damien or Bethany could get a quarter of the Muggleborns in that time!”

Lance groans and dramatically leans on Keith. “Oh, come on! It’ll be  _ fun _ , Keith! Remember last year? We had  _ fun _ !”

“Lance, we nearly died, did you forget about that?” Keith replies. He turns to Lance and winces at Lance’s pleading expression. He doesn’t like seeing those blue eyes look so sad. “Ugh…fine.”

Pidge turns to Hunk and gives him a big smile. “Huuuuuunk! You know you want to!”

“I actually don’t,” Hunk replies dully as he continues to flip through the potions book. Eventually he sighs. “Fine…only because it’d be kinda fun.”

“Yes!” Pidge exclaims, pumping her fist in the air.

Matt smiles widely and pulls out a piece of parchment. “Excellent! Now, I wrote down a list of ingredients needed for this potion. The stuff written in blue is what I can get for you that won’t raise suspicion from Thace. The stuff in red is what we’ll need to devise a plan to fetch from Thace’s stash.”

“What about the words in black?” Lance wonders.

Matt snatches the book from Hunk and smirks. “You four are in charge of getting the hair of the people you wish to become.” He stands up. “Now, it’s getting late so you four should probably get to bed before The Warden comes and screams at you. I’ll keep the book in my office, so if you ever need to see it, just stop by! I get lonely…”

Pidge rolls her eyes. “Shut up, Matt.” She gives him a hug before walking out of the Great Hall to the Ravenclaw common room.

Hunk, Lance, and Keith wave goodbye to Matt and head out too. Hunk splits off first, leaving Lance and Keith to walk back with each other. “Nervous for the game tomorrow?” Lance asks.

Keith chuckles. “No way! Slytherin has it in the bag!”

“Doubt it! They’ve got a secret weapon now!” Lance exclaims with a wide smile.

“Oh yeah? And what’s that?” Keith asks with a raised eyebrow as they arrive at the Gryffindor common room.

Lance leans in close and smirks. “Me, ya doof!” He gives Keith a quick hug before walking in the Gryffindor common room. Keith smiles to himself as he makes his way to the Slytherin common room. Suddenly, tomorrow’s game has a new meaning to it.

 

* * *

 

 

Saturday morning begins when Keith is shaken awake in his bed. He opens his eyes and sees Cooper smiling down at him. “Up and at ‘em, Kogane! It’s Quidditch day!” Cooper exclaims.

Keith sighs and sits up. “Alright, I’m up…I’m up.”

“Excellent! Be down in the common room in ten minutes! I have a speech to give!” Cooper exclaims before walking out of Keith’s dorm.

Once Cooper is gone, Keith stands up and begins changing into his Quidditch uniform. He puts on the underclothes first before putting on his green #1 jersey and cape. The number is written in silver on the front and the back, with his last name above the number on the back. He slips on his shin and arm guards, then his shoes. Keith picks up his fingerless gloves and hurries out of his dorm and down to where his team is. They clap and cheer when they see him (well, except Damien).

Stella giggles and runs up to Keith. “There’s our star player! How are you feeling today, Keith?”

“Great, actually,” Keith replies with a smile. “I have a good feeling about today’s match.”

“That’s good! Alright, now that we’re all here…shall we head to the field?” Cooper asks everyone.

Keith and his teammates cheer and follow Cooper out of the common room and down to the Quidditch pitch. The sounds of the fans fill Keith’s ears and he finds himself smiling.  _ He’s missed this feeling so much _ . Cooper leads them into the locker room where everyone gets their broomsticks and waits for Cooper’s instructions. He stands in front of everyone. “Alright guys, it’s gonna be hard to beat Gryffindor today, but if we all have Keith’s spirit then we can win! Sophia and I will focus on keeping their Chasers at bay. Stella, Reyna, and Andrew, you three keep the score on our side.” He looks at Reyna. “Your brother was one of the best Chasers I’ve ever seen and I know you’ve got it in you, Reyna. You’ve got this.” He looks at Mason. “Trent Waymire ain’t got nothing on you, dude. You’re the best Keeper, not him.”

Mason laughs and high fives Cooper. “Yeah man!”

Cooper looks at Damien and Dylan. “You two have to be ready to hop in just in case something goes wrong out there, alright? NOW! The man of the hour…Keith Kogane. Your only job is to focus on the Snitch, got it? The rest us will do our jobs to make yours easier!” Cooper announces. “Now, let’s get out there and win!”

The team cheers and follows Cooper out of the locker room and out into the pitch. Keith and his team mount their brooms and take off, flying around the area. Keith stops once the Chasers and Beaters move to warm up. Damien flies up to him with a smirk on his face. “Scared, Kogane?! Don’t mess up!”

Keith raises an eyebrow. “Trying to throw me off? Do you not want me to catch the Snitch? That’ll be a big loss for you and Lance will be able to rub it in your face.”

Damien scoffs and flies away, not wanting to admit Keith is right. Keith rolls his eyes and begins flying around, looking for Hunk and Pidge in the crowd. He spots them near the teacher’s section by Coran and waves to them. They smile and wave back to them before pointing behind Keith. He turns around and sees Lance flying over to him in an identical jersey to his own, except instead of the jersey being green, it’s red and instead of the numbers and his name being in silver, it’s gold.

“Hey Lance!” Keith greets happily.

“Ready to lose, Kogane?! My sisters won’t be going easy on you now!” Lance exclaims. “I hope you’re ready to l-”

“LANCE!” Brooklyn yells from across the pitch. “GET OVER HERE!”

“Oops! That’s my cue! Good luck Keith!” He smiles and flies away.

Keith chuckles and rolls his eyes at Lance’s poor attempt at trash talk. He looks over at the teachers’ section and sees Matt and Shiro bickering over the microphone. Matt eventually prevails and seizes the mic from him.

“Hello everyone! Welcome to the first Quidditch game of the year! Today’s match puts Gryffindor against Slytherin…who will win?! I don’t know! I have five galleons on - ow! Okay! I didn’t place any bets! Ah! Here comes Allura to start the match!”

Keith looks down at the ground and sees Allura set down the box that contains the four Quidditch balls: one Quaffle, two Bludgers, and one Snitch. She stands up straight and holds her wand in the air. “I want a clean, civil game!” She points her wand at the box. “Alohomora!”

The box shakes a bit before bursting open, releasing the two Bludgers and the Snitch. Allura reaches in and grabs the Quaffle. “LET THE GAME BEGIN!” She tosses it up in the air and the Chasers immediately fly after it.

“The Quaffle is up and - oh! Snatched by Reyna McGivney, number nine on Slytherin! Ah, McGivney…that name is familiar. Where have I - OH! She’s the younger sister of Ryland McGivney! He was a Chaser for Slytherin too!” Matt exclaims.

Keith huffs and does his best to ignore Matt’s unhelpful announcing to focus on the game. Reyna flies towards the Gryffindor goalposts and throws it at one of them, but the Keeper stops it in time. Keith sighs when she misses, but sits back up and keeps an eye out for the Snitch.

“Keith! Watch it!” Sophia yells from behind him as she knocks a Bludger away.

He turns around and his eyes widen when he sees the Bludger coming back for him again. Keith speeds up and starts flying around, trying to avoid the Bludger. Sophia does her best to protect Keith, but Cooper has to come and protect him too, leaving the field defenseless. The Gryffindor Chasers score points after points. Mason does his best to stop the shots, but without the Beaters, he can’t do much more than he already is.

“Guys! Go back out there!” Keith yells to Sophia and Cooper. “I’ll handle the Bludger myself!”

Sophia grunts as she knocks it away again. “You sure Kogane?!”

“Yes! Now go!” Keith yells as he takes a sharp left turn while the Bludger trails behind him.  _ So much for a high vantage point. _ He zigzags through the structures of the seats to try to shake the Bludger, but to no avail. He flies back up and sees that Slytherin has finally caught back up to Gryffindor. He glances behind him to see if the Bludger is still following him and sighs angrily when he sees that it still is. Keith turns back forward and sees himself about to crash into Lucy McClain, who is preparing to whack the other Bludger at one of Keith’s teammates. Keith screams and narrowly dodges hitting her, but the Bludger that was following him knocks into her chest and the one she was about to hit knocks into her shoulder, sending her off her broom.

Keith’s eyes widen in fear as Lucy plummets towards to the ground and cringes when she hits the ground, going unconscious, but his attention quickly goes back to the rogue Bludger once it comes after him again. He braces for impact, but Allura blows her whistle and waves her wand, making the Quaffle and two Bludgers freeze in place (the Snitch is unaffected).

The Gryffindor team and Keith fly down to where she is. Hannah arrives first at her sister’s side and covers her mouth in shock. Keith turns and sees Carlos and Ryland rushing onto the field, quickly followed by Slav.

“Out of the way!” Slav orders the Gryffindor team. “Carlos, Ryland, help me bring her to the infirmary! Quickly, quickly!”

Ryland and Carlos do what Slav says and take Lucy away. Carlos turns to Lance and Hannah and says, “We’ll take care of her! Just finish the game!”

Allura turns to Charlotte. “Which one of your emergency subs will replace Lucy in the game?”

Charlotte looks between Finn and Lance then sighs. “Lance, you’re up.”

Allura nods then turns to Cooper. “Who will be replacing Sophia? She caused another player to be injured…I can’t let that slide.”

“Damien,” Cooper answers, crossing his arms.

Allura claps her hands together and uses her wand to project her voice. “Lucy McClain is removed the game due to an injury that prevents her from continuing. Lance McClain will be taking her place as Beater. Sophia Barre is fouled out from the game. Damien Morrison will be taking her place as Beater.” She puts her wand away, ignoring the mixture of boos and cheers from the crowd. “Resume positions.”

Keith tries to get Lance’s attention, but Hannah takes him away to tell him what they’re going to do. He groans when Damien sticks his tongue out at him before boarding his broom and flying after Cooper.  _ Why did Cooper have to pick him?! All Damien’s gonna do is screw up Keith’s focus! _ Keith gets on his own broom and takes his spot back in the air. Once Allura waves her wand again, the Bludgers and Quaffle move back into motion. The rogue Bludger resumes chasing after Keith, forcing him to fly around the pitch in a calm panic. Though, this does give Keith the opportunity to watch Lance in action and… _ dang _ he’s a natural. Even with one Bludger, Lance still makes scoring on the Gryffindor hoops a living hell for the Slytherin Chasers.

“Having troubles there Kogane!” Damien sneers as he flies in front of Keith.

Keith opens his mouth to retort, but his eyes widen when he sees the Snitch next to Damien’s face. The rogue Bludger hits Keith’s shoulder, sending him spinning away. Keith grunts and recovers, flying straight at Damien. He screams and flies out of the way as Keith chases after the Snitch.

Charlotte notices Keith flying after the Snitch and joins in, trying to knock him away. He turns when he sees Lance smack the other Bludger right at him. Keith growls and tightens his grip on his broom before diving straight down to dodge Lance’s attack then right back up to snatch the Snitch out of the air a second before Charlotte. Keith laughs in triumph, but screams when the rogue Bludger hits his arm, sending him flying off his broom. Luckily, he’s closer to the ground than Lucy was so his arm breaks his fall, but he definitely hears something snap. He rolls onto the ground and onto his back, sighing in relief as he looks at the Snitch in his hand, but screams again when the Bludger hits the ground next to him. He rolls to the right and left to dodge the Bludger again and scoots backwards when the Bludger almost crushes his crotch. The Bludger flies up and goes to smash in his face again-

“Finite Incantatem!”

Keith jumps, startled when the Bludger explodes into a million pieces. He looks over and sees Pidge with her wand out and pointed. She and Hunk quickly rush to Keith’s side and Lance joins shortly after, dismounting his broom. “Oh, Keith! Are you okay?!” Lance asks, worried.

“Yeah, but my arm is definitely broken,” Keith replies, cringing as he sits up.

Pidge and Hunk exchange worried expressions as Lubos hurries over and Allura lands on the ground. “Keith! Ah, yes, a nasty break, but never fear for I can fix it!” Lubos exclaims.

_ Oh, for the love of- _

“Lubos, we should really bring him to Slav,” Allura says. “Lance, Hunk, will you-”

“Nonsense!” Lubos exclaims as he whips out his wand and points it at Keith’s arm. “Brackium Emendo!”

Keith winces as a purple glow consumes his arm for a couple seconds, but relaxes when it disappears. The pain in his arm has ceased, but when he goes to move his fingers, nothing happens. “Why can’t I move my fingers?” Keith wonders.

“Why that’s impossible! You-” Lubos starts when he grabs Keith’s arm, causing it to jostle around as if it’s made of rubber. “Oh…well this is a possibility.”

“That is enough! Out of my way!” She marches over and helps Keith to his feet. “I am taking you to Slav right now!” Pidge, Lance, and Hunk move to follow, but Allura holds her hand up to stop them. “No! You may come later, but not right this minute!” Allura takes Keith into the castle and up to the infirmary wing. “Slav! We have a problem over here.”

“What is - oh my goodness! What happened to him?!” Slav demands. “He should have been brought to me right away!” He ushers Keith into one of the beds.

“Lubos attempted to heal his broken arm, but made the bones disappear instead,” Allura shares. “I tried to get Keith here, but Lubos  _ insisted _ he knew what to do.”

Slav shakes his head no as he begins making the bone regrowth formula. “Mending bones is easy, but regrowing them…that is a painful process. Keith, you will have to stay in here overnight.”

“Right, Keith, I will inform Pidge, Lance, and Hunk of what you have to do then I am going to give both Lubos  _ and _ Shiro a piece of my mind,” Allura says. “Get well soon, Keith.” She smiles at him before storming out of the room.

Slav finishes the potion and hands it to Keith. “Drink this, it’ll regrow the bones.”

Keith sighs and takes the cup from Slav and takes a sip. The taste of rotten meat and eggs swarm his taste buds and his gag reflex kicks in. “Ew! What is that?!”

“Well it is not supposed to taste good,” Slav replies as he goes to tend to Lucy, who is still unconscious.

Keith’s eyebrows furrow in concern. “Is she going to be okay?”

Slav sighs. “She will heal, but she may never ride a broom again.”

“What?! Oh, Slav, this is all my fault! The Bludger was following me and I made it hit her,” Keith says, rubbing his forehead.

Slav shakes his head no. “Keith, we all saw that tampered Bludger following you. Do not blame yourself for the mishap, alright?”

Keith opens his mouth to reply, but Lance, Pidge, and Hunk burst into the room and hurry over to Keith. “Oh my goodness! Keith, are you okay?!” Lance asks.

Pidge whacks his arm lightly. “Of course he’s not! His bones are gone!”

“I know, but I meant like up here!” Lance points at his head. “How did it feel to have your bones disappear?”

“Lance, that’s not how it-” Pidge starts but Hunk holds his hand up to make her be quiet.

Keith shrugs. “I mean I didn’t feel anything different right away, but when I tried to move my fingers, nothing happened. I wish Lubos would just stay out of everyone’s business! This wouldn’t even be a problem if he hadn’t gotten involved!”

“Keith, I know you hate him, but he did mean well,” Lance reasons as he sits on the edge of Keith’s bed. “He’s a terrible wizard, but his heart was in the right place.”

Keith huffs and crosses his arms. “Still…I hate when he gets involved. And when we had to deal with the pixies!?”

Lance chuckles. “Hey, that was fun! I got to whack around some annoying pixies and you got to show off your awesome magic skills!”

Hunk suddenly stands up. “Crap! Pidge, we forgot to talk to your dad about an extension on that project!”

Pidge’s eyes widen. “Oh no.” She turns to Keith. “Sorry Keith, Hunk and I have to go. We’ll see you later though. If you’re released tomorrow, we’ll be in Myrtle’s bathroom, starting work on the you-know-what.” She and Hunk wave goodbye to Keith and hurry out.

Lance spends the rest of the afternoon with Keith in the infirmary, talking about who knows what and the drama Lance has heard in the Gryffindor common room. Apparently, Hannah has been sneaking around the school and has a secret  _ lover _ in another house. Hmm, maybe that’s why she had a Ravenclaw tie on the other day…

Anyway, Slav sends Lance away once curfew rolls in so he won’t get in trouble. As Keith is getting ready to fall asleep, he feels the weight shift on the bed. He sits up and sees Chulatt standing at the foot of the bed, twiddling her fingers nervously.

“Chulatt!? What are you doing here?” Keith wonders.

“Hello, Keith Kogane. Chulatt sees Keith didn’t listen to Chulatt’s warnings about returning to Hogwarts,” Chulatt comments.

“Hogwarts is my home! I couldn’t  _ not _ come back!” Keith exclaims. “What are you doing here anyway? I’m recovering from my injury. Slav told me to get sleep.”

“Chulatt just wanted to apologize to Keith for all she did to try to stop him from returning to Hogwarts,” she says. “Chulatt was the one who closed up the train platform and bewitched the Bludger in hope that Keith would give up and return home. Keith’s life is threatened at Hogwarts because the Cavern of Mysteries has been opened again.”

Keith sits up taller and his eyes widen. “Wait, did you just say the Cavern of Mysteries is open!? How do you know this!?”

Chulatt shakes her head no. “Chulatt cannot tell you any more than that. If Chulatt’s masters found out she was here, they-”

Voices and footsteps sound from the corridor outside and Chulatt snaps her fingers and disappears. Keith lays back down in the bed and pretends to be asleep.

Shiro and Allura enter carrying a stony figure while Slav gets a bed ready. Keith squints and recognizes the figure as Beezer who had been petrified with a camera in front of his face.

“This is not good, Shiro,” Slav says as he continues preparing the bed.

“I know, Slav.” He turns to Allura. “What are we going to do?”

“Perhaps he got a picture of his attacker,” Allura suggests.

Shiro nods and plucks the camera from Beezer’s hands and opens the back of the camera, but sparks and smoke come from the cartridge. He turns and looks at her with a grim expression. “I’m afraid our worst fear has come true; the Cavern of Mysteries has been opened again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try to finish this book ASAP so you might (key word: might) get more chapters this week and possibly a complete book, but I can't promise anything.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com/)


	11. Dueling (Fight?) Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith, Pidge, Lance, and Hunk finally get the rest of the ingredients they need for the Polyjuice potion, with the help of Matt of course, but they still have to wait a month before it's done. Lubos starts a dueling club in order to "teach" students how to defend themselves...obviously things go wrong, but that's no surprise there whenever Lubos is involved with things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter done! Only seven more to go! (Thank god) I am absolutely done with this book lmao I WANT TO DO THE NEXT ONE SO BADLY!!!!
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Slav finally releases Keith from the infirmary after all the bones in his wrist have grown back ( _ no thanks to Lubos _ ). Keith passes Ryland who is still at the unconscious Lucy’s side. “How are you doing Ryland? How long have you been here?” Keith asks.

“I’ve been here all night, but I’m fine,” he replies. Keith can tell he’s not. He has dark bags under his eyes and his cheeks are stained with dry tears.

“Ryland, I’m sorry. I feel like this is my fault,” Keith says sheepishly. “I feel like the Bludger hitting her-”

Ryland shakes his head. “Keith, don’t blame yourself. Quidditch is a dangerous sport, besides, I saw the Bludger tailing you. I know Lucy wouldn’t blame you for this…I certainly don’t blame you.”

Keith nods, choosing not to tell him the reason behind the Bludger - he has enough on his mind right now. He leaves the infirmary and makes his way to Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom where Pidge said she’d be with Hunk and Lance. As he approaches, he runs into Hannah who seems to be exceptionally happy today, despite her sister still being unconscious. “Hannah? Why are you so happy?”

She simply winks at him and walks away, humming to herself. Keith gets a whiff of perfume on her and he scrunches his nose. Since when did she wear perfume?! He rolls his eyes and brushes the observation off as he enters the bathroom. He finds them sitting on the ground surrounding a small, bubbling cauldron. Lance immediately smiles at Keith when he sees him. “Keith! You’re back!” Lance jumps to his feet and runs to hug Keith.

Keith chuckles and hugs him back. “Yeah, Slav really knows what he’s doing. Anyway, how’s the potion coming along?”

“It’s coming slowly but surely,” Pidge replies. “Any news about Lucy?”

“Still unconscious - not to mention Ryland’s in denial of how sad he is,” Keith replies. “There’s more though. Chulatt visited me again last night. She’s the one who made the barrier close at the train station and sent the rogue Bludger at me!”

“What the heck?! Lucy’s unconscious because of her!” Lance exclaims.

“I know! There’s even more! Shiro and Allura came in later with another petrified kid: Beezer. They say the Cavern of Mysteries has been opened again,” Keith finishes.

“No way! Oh man Damien has been busy,” Hunk says. “Pidge, we need this potion finished as soon as possible.”

She grumbles. “Well, I can’t get some of the harder ingredients because they’re all in Thace’s private stash! Luckily, Matt agreed to help us. During Keith’s and my potions class, Matt’s gonna come in and distract Thace so Keith and I can get the remaining ingredients.”

Lance claps. “Oh! I wanna witness this!”

“Hmm,” Pidge thinks. “Matt can probably get you and Hunk out of class depending on which class it is.”

“We have herbology,” Hunk answers.

“Oh, Coran will definitely be fine with it then,” Pidge concludes. She glances up at the clock and drops the spoon she was holding. “Oh no! We need to leave now otherwise we’ll be late for our first classes.”

Keith, Hunk, and Lance help Pidge put away the tools and hide the cauldron somewhere before running out of the bathroom. Hunk and Lance hurry to Thace’s classroom for Potions and Keith and Pidge head outside for Herbology.

Coran mainly has them discussing more things on mandrakes and their importance to the wizarding world. Kids try pestering him with questions about the Cavern of Mysteries or the petrified students, but he actively refuses to answer those questions, claiming he has nothing to tell them. Once that class finishes, Keith meets up with Lance and they head to Defense Against the Dark Arts together, making sure to sit in the back because they don’t want to deal with Lubos’s crap. He spends most of the class period talking about himself so Lance and Keith are able to devise a plan to get the rest of the ingredients.

On a piece of parchment, Keith writes down possible things Lance, Matt, and Hunk can do to disrupt the class, but none of the ideas seem to be enough to let Pidge and Keith sneak out and get back without Thace noticing. Most of them are spells Keith isn’t that knowledgeable in nor would they last very long. Keith slams down the quill in frustration and puts his head down on the desk. “We’re getting nowhere!” he groans.

Lance slides the paper over and picks up his own quill. He thinks for a moment before writing something down. “We worked on a swelling potion in class today…so if we get something to make it splash out on some people - I got it! Firecrackers!” he exclaims quietly “It’ll create puffs of smoke and whoever the liquid lands on won’t be able to see anything for a little bit, but enough time for you and Pidge to get the ingredients we need.”

Keith lifts his head up and looks over at Lance in awe. “That…actually would work. Good idea, Lance.”

Lance smiles smugly and leans back in his chair. “I’m pretty amazing, aren’t I?”

Keith chuckles and rolls his eyes, turning back to Lubos, who has finally decided to start teaching. Once class is over, Keith and Lance split off to head to their classes, Lance making sure to stop at Matt’s office before heading to Herbology to tell him the plan. Keith meets up with Pidge and explains the plan to her as they enter Thace’s classroom. They make sure to sit near the back so they can easily slip out of the classroom.

Thace saunters into the room and up to his table in the front, slamming the door behind him. “Open up your textbooks to page seventy-two and begin following the directions in front of you. Today we are making a swelling solution. It is a fairly easy potion to make…if you are competent enough to follow simple directions.” Thace glares in Keith’s and Pidge’s direction. “I will be around in a moment to check your progress. Don’t-”

Suddenly, the door swings open again, revealing Matt, Lance, and Hunk holding several sticks of firecrackers. “FOR THE GREATER GOOD!” Matt yells before launching two firecrackers into Thace’s cauldron, causing smoke to puff out and Thace to yell in pain. He quickly puts three empty vials on Pidge’s and Keith’s table. Lance then smirks and turns to Damien’s and Bethany’s cauldron and launches two of his own in theirs, causing the same thing to happen to them. Hunk gets two other unsuspecting Slytherins while Keith and Pidge, with the empty vials, slip out of the room and over to Thace’s stash of ingredients.

Keith lifts out his wand and aims it at the lock. “Alohomora.” The lock clicks open and Pidge and Keith walk in the storeroom. It’s relatively small, filled with shelves upon shelves of different types of potions ingredients. Some in large bottles and some in tiny vials.

Pidge pulls out a piece of paper and begins reading things off to Keith. “Okay, we need powdered bicorn hair, fluxweed that had been picked at a full moon, and shredded boomslang skin.”

Keith frantically searches around the stash, eventually finding the fluxweed first. He puts it in the vial and hands it to Pidge. He spots the powdered hair and puts it in the second one. Keith then looks up and sees the shredded skin, but he can’t reach that high. He pulls his wand out again and aims at it. “Accio boomslang skin!” The jar of skin comes flying at him and he snatches it out of the air, taking a few to put in the vial before handing it to Pidge. He points his wand at the jar of skin and moves it in two circular motions, one small then big. The jar begins to hover in the air and Keith guides it back up to where it was. He hops down from the stool and they make their way back to the classroom where Thace and the other students are still recovering from the swelling potion. Keith and Pidge slide back into their seats just before Thace’s wears off.

“You buffoon! What the bloody hell are you doing here disrupting my class with these childish antics? I ought to have you fired and you two expelled!” Thace yells.

Matt yells something else before throwing another firecracker on the ground, this time a huge amount of smoke coming from it, allowing them to run out of the room. Once the smoke clears, Thace glares at Keith and Pidge. “You two obviously had something to do with this.”

“Sir, I can’t control what my brother does and doesn’t do,” Pidge replies dully. “I’m just here to learn.”

Keith nods in agreement. “I haven’t even had Matt today yet.”

Thace sighs. “Fine, fine! Just get back to your work!” He sits down in his chair and rubs his forehead.

Pidge and Keith exchange a smirk and finish making their swelling potion. After class, they meet up with Hunk and Lance in Myrtle’s bathroom before heading to lunch to put the ingredients in the Polyjuice potion. Pidge finishes mixing it and says it won’t be ready for another month, but that she’d let them know when it’s ready. They exchange grim expressions, but head to lunch, not looking forward to the long, suspenseful weeks ahead of them.

 

* * *

 

 

A couple weeks pass and November nearly comes to an end. One night after dinner, Keith, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge find a poster advertising a new student dueling club meeting in the Great Hall. They decide to head over there and find that Lubos is leading it. At this point Keith tries to walk out, but Lance grabs his arm and yanks him back. They walk up to the main table where Lubos is standing. “Hello everyone! Welcome to the first meeting of the dueling club where you will learn how to defend yourselves! What better way to start a lesson than by example? Thace, would you do the honors and join me up here?” Lubos asks.

Thace sighs and steps up onto the table with Lubos and gets his wand out. “Excellent!” Lubos exclaims. “Now, first we will face away from each other, back to back, then take five large steps forward.” Thace and Lubos take five steps away from each other then turn back to face each other. “Now, of course, we turn back to each other and the duel begins!” He throws his arm back and makes his cape swoosh out from behind him, causing Keith to roll his eyes. “Don’t worry, you will all still have your Potions master when I’m finished with him. I-”

“Expelliarmus!” Thace exclaims with a quick flick of his wand. Lubos’s wand flies out of his hand and onto the ground in front of Thace.

Lubos chuckles nervously. “Yes, well that was a very-”

“Stupefy!” Thace exclaims again, sending a blast of magic at Lubos, causing him to fly through the air and land at the end of the table.

Lubos groans and slowly gets up, brushing himself off. “Yes, good example of a stunning spell, Thace. I allowed him to win to show you both of these spells! Now, I’m going to divide you all into partners so you all can practice these spells!” He starts pointing at people, pairing them up randomly. Lubos puts Pidge with Bethany, Lance with Damien, Hunk with Paul, and Keith with Xander.

Xander walks up to Keith and they find a mat to practice on. “Do you really think Lubos lost that duel on purpose?” he asks Keith.

Keith shakes his head no. “Lubos is all talk. When it comes down to it, he’s a fraud. I have no idea why Shiro would hire him.”

Xander chuckles. “Same here.” He pulls his wand out. “Well, are you-”

Yelling and bursts of light interrupt Xander. They turn around and see Lance and Damien attacking each other with all sorts of body-contorting charms, some Keith hasn’t even attempted before - like tickling spell and a leg-jerking spell. Lubos walks over to them and sends them to the center of the Great Hall to demonstrate for everyone else. Xander and Keith exchange a nervous expression before walking over to the center table. Lance and Damien put their backs to each other and raise their wands to their faces. They take five large steps away from each other before turning back around. Lubos stands next to Lance, whispering some words to him that Lance looks like he doesn’t want to be hearing. Thace does the same to Damien, but it looks like he’s giving Damien some actual advice. The two professors step away, allowing the duel to start.

Damien raises his wand and exclaims, “Serpensortia!” A burst of light comes from his wand and a black snake lands on the table near Lance. It slowly starts advancing on Lance, tongue sticking out and it hisses.

Lance backs away in fear and Keith immediately steps forward to assist, but Lubos steps in front of Lance.

“Alarte ascendare!” he exclaims, aiming it at the snake. Instead of disappearing, the snake flies into the air and lands on the ground with a loud thud. It turns to Delia and starts advancing on her.

Delia’s eyes widen in fear and she starts breathing heavily. “What the hell?!” she exclaims.

Without thinking, Keith hops up onto the table and stares at the snake. “ _ Stop, don’t attack her. _ ”

The snake continues to approach Delia, ignoring Keith.

“ _ Enough, back off or else _ ,” Keith orders again.

The snake finally turns away from Delia and lays on the table in a docile heap. Thace pulls his wand out and shouts, “Vipera Evanesca.” The snake disappears in a puff of smoke.

Keith sighs and turns to Lance, exchanging a relieved expression with him. Thace claps his hands together. “End of class, everyone head back to your dorms now.”

The students give Keith terrified expressions as they leave. Keith tilts his head in confusion and hops down next to Hunk and Pidge. “Why is everyone staring at me?” he wonders.

“Keith, you were speaking Parseltongue…a snake language Salazar Slytherin was famous for,” Pidge explains. Hunk nods in agreement.

“What? No, he wasn’t! He was speaking English,” Lance defends. “He said ‘stop don’t attack her’ and ‘enough, back off or else’.”

“It sounded like he was telling the snake to attack her,” Hunk says. “But I know you wouldn’t do that.”

“Lance, you must be able to speak it too then,” Pidge concludes.

Keith’s eyes widen in fear. “I could be the heir! It makes sense! I’m in Slytherin!”

Lance crosses his arms. “Keith, I can speak it too so I’m just as likely a candidate as you are.”

“Guys, don’t worry about it right now,” Hunk says as they make their way out of the Great Hall. “Just go to bed and we can deal with it tomorrow.” Keith and Lance exchange a nervous expression with each other, but decide to drop it for now.

The next day, Saturday, Keith finds himself feeling restless about the whole debacle and goes to find Delia, determined to explain what actually happened. He remembers Lance telling him about meeting his Gryffindor friends in the library to study for an Astronomy test and goes to look for them there. As he’s looking around, he hears Paul’s voice by the chairs. He approaches and hears them talking about Keith.

“…be him!” Paul exclaims. “No one else could be the heir other than Keith. I mean he sent that crazy snake to attack Delia by speaking that weird snake language! You-Know-Who didn’t succeed in killing him because infant Keith already had the powerful dark protective powers!”

Lance gives Paul a glare. “If that were true then I’d have those same powers! You know I can speak Parseltongue so why am I not a suspect?!”

Before anyone can reply, Keith approaches them and asks, “Has anyone seen Delia?”

Paul whirls around and glares at Keith. “Come here to finish the job?”

“Are you going to send your other snake minions to kill the rest of us?” another Gryffindor asks.

Keith narrows his eyes and crosses his arms. “I don’t need-”

“Okay! That’s enough!” Lance exclaims, standing up to grab Keith’s arm. “I will see the rest of you later!” He drags Keith away from them and out of the library. “I’m sorry about them. They’re just scared, that’s all. They wouldn’t say those things otherwise.”

Keith looks at the ground. “Yeah, well-” He stops in his tracks when he nearly trips over the stone-hard figure of Delia on the ground. Keith looks up and sees the airy floating figure of Nearly-Headless Nick along with Slav on the opposite side holding a dead chicken. “What the-”

They hear a scream from behind them and turn around to see Peeves floating there. He begins flying around, yelling about the scene. A few seconds later, professors and students rush into the corridor and see Delia and Nick. Some students glare accusingly at Keith and he glares back at them. Lance tries to step between them, but Allura steps forward and gently brings them away. “Come on.” She brings them towards a large statue of a lion. “Leo timere.” The lion statue opens its mouth, as if to roar, and a stairwell slowly winds open and appears. “Head up there, Shiro will be there in a moment.”

Keith finds himself frozen in fear, unable to walk up the stairs. Lance grabs his hand and guides him up there into the office, but Keith can’t bring himself to look around. The last time he spoke to Shiro was when he dropped him off at the foster home and they didn’t part on good terms. Keith accused Shiro of not caring for him, claiming the foster home to be a terrible place, but Shiro didn’t listen and yelled at Keith to grow up. Keith cried himself to sleep for two weeks after that.

“Whoa, this office is  _ awesome _ !” Lance exclaims, breaking Keith out of his thoughts. Keith turns and sees him looking at the sorting hat. Lance takes it off the shelf and places it on his head, motioning for Keith to walk over. “So, hat, should I have been placed in Ravenclaw?”

_ You would have done well, but Gryffindor was a better fit for you. _

Keith raises an eyebrow at Lance. “Ask about Slytherin.”

“Yeah, what he said,” Lance says.

_ No, impossible. Slytherin would never have helped you grow as a wizard. _

Keith takes the hat from Lance and puts it on his own head. “What about me? Why was Slytherin the right choice for me?”

_ You doubt yourself, but Slytherin can show you how great you are. I do not regret my decision. You will soon see how much potential you have. _

“Would I fit into any other house?” Keith wonders.

_ Possibly Gryffindor, but I am proud of my decision to place you in Slytherin. _

Keith groans and puts the hat back where Lance found it. “That’s not what I wanted to hear.”

“The hat knows best, Keith. I’d trust it,” Lance says offering Keith a small smile. He turns to Shiro’s desk when he hears a small noise. Lance gasps when he sees a large bird with orange and yellow feathers with black tips perched near his desk. “Whoa look-”

Suddenly the bird bursts into black flames and disappears into ashes. Keith and Lance look at each other in fear. “We killed the owl,” Lance says.

“No, we didn’t! That thing looked like it was on its last leg!” Keith retorts.

“Actually, she’s a Phoenix,” Shiro says from behind them, startling them. He walks over to her perch and looks into the ashes. “It’s a shame you had to see her like that, but now you get to see her be reborn from the ashes.” He motions for Keith and Lance to walk over. “Black is a phoenix.”

Keith peers in and raises his eyebrows when he sees a baby phoenix pop her head out from the ashes. Lance squeals and turns to Shiro. “Can I hold her?!”

Shiro chuckles and nods, gently lifting Black up to place her in Lance’s open palms. “She loves meeting new people. Phoenixes make excellent pets because they are faithful, can carry heavy loads, and can heal injuries with their tears.”

Lance opens his mouth to ask a question, but Slav bursts into the room, out of breath. “Wait! They are innocent! There are millions of realities where they did not commit the crime - most of them have Lance and Keith being framed! I can outline-”

“Slav, I know they didn’t do it,” Shiro interrupts. “They’re not in trouble, but I do have to discuss some things with them.”

Slav backs away. “Oh…right…sorry. I will just - yes!” He quickly leaves the office. Lance gently places Black back into the pile of ashes and turns to Shiro.

Shiro rolls his eyes and turns back to Lance and Keith. “Now, is there anything else you’d like to tell me? Do you two know something I don’t? I know you aren’t behind the attacks, but maybe you two have information.”

“Nope,” Keith replies curtly. “And if that’s all…we’re leaving.”

Without letting Shiro reply, Keith grabs Lance’s arm and drags him out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com/)


	12. Infiltrate and Conquer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Christmastime and all of Keith's friends are staying at Hogwarts for the holidays thanks to the Heir of Slytherin. People are still treating Keith poorly because they think he's the Heir, but he's gotten over it by now. Eventually they'll realize it's not him. After celebrating with the McClain kids, it's time to use the Polyjuice potion to see if Damien is really the Heir of Slytherin...what could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it's almost Christmas...this year FLEW by, but that's not a bad thing in my opinion. Keep an eye out for a special Christmas edition to the cop au :)
> 
> Enjoy!

December rolls in and the whole school is still frightened about the heir. People are still wary around Keith whenever they see him, giving him glares or simply running away. Keith mainly ignores everyone when they act like this - he frankly doesn’t care what they think…he’s just concerned with who the real culprit is. At one point, Layla and Xander Castillo try to humor the situation at various points by walking in front of him, jokingly exclaiming, “Make way for the Heir of Slytherin! Seriously evil wizard coming through!” Lance didn’t appreciate it and tried telling them off, but Keith likes the humor. He tells Lance that at least the twins think the idea of him being the heir is laughable.

Time passes uneventfully, despite Lubos trying to make everyone excited for the festivities he has planned for Christmas (Keith would rather die than do whatever that dreadful man has planned). Soon enough Christmas break comes by and Hunk, Lance, Keith, and Pidge all stay at Hogwarts for the holidays. Hunk’s parents, Luis, and Isa have emergency things to take care of at the ministry, Professor Holt and Matt have to stay at Hogwarts in case anything else happens (Pidge’s mom, Colleen, heads to her sister’s house for safety purposes), and Keith stays, well, for obvious reasons.

They meet up with the rest of Lance’s siblings and open presents together in the Great Hall before getting ready to eat the Christmas feast together. As they finish presents and start eating, they see Ryland and Lucy walk in and over to them. Lance smiles widely when he sees his sister, but it wavers when he sees her limping. “Hi guys!” Lucy exclaims. “I’m awake!”

Ryland smiles fondly at her. “I never doubted for a second you wouldn’t.”

“He also never left your side!” Carlos pipes in, patting the seat next to him. Ryland helps Lucy sit down before sitting next to Carlos.

“So, are you able to play in the next Quidditch game?” Hannah asks, moving over so her friend Tasha can sit next to her.

Lucy shakes her head no. “Slav told me my injuries were too serious so I can never fly on a broom again…which sucks, but I’m okay. My position is being filled by someone very trustworthy.” She gives Lance a smile. “He’s better than I ever was.”

Keith winces at that. “Lucy, I’m-”

She holds her hand up and shakes her head. “Keith, don’t apologize. It wasn’t your fault. Ryland told me about the Bludger trailing you and I know you didn’t intend for it to hit me. Better me than you after all.” She looks at Hannah. “Don’t tell the rest of the team I said that.”

Hannah chuckles. “I’ll let it slide considering we now have a secret weapon that can easily shut Kogane here down.”

Keith scoffs. “Yet I still caught the Snitch and won the game for Slytherin.” He high fives Ryland when he holds his hand up for one.

Lance suddenly sits up straight when he sees Matt walk into the Great Hall. He grabs Keith’s arm and glares at Pidge and Hunk to get up too. “We’ll be right back!” Lance exclaims, leading them over to Matt. “Okay, we need a favor.”

Matt raises an eyebrow. “Depends on the favor.”

Lance rolls his eyes. “We wanna catch Ryland and Lucy under the mistletoe. They hate PDA so this would force them to have to do it.”

Pidge scrunches up her nose. “Ew! Why do you want them to kiss?”

“It’s that time of year Pidge! Besides, Shay isn’t here for me to plan it for her and Hunk so my sister and Ryland are the next best thing,” Lance shares.

“Wait, what!?” Hunk exclaims.

Matt chuckles. “Alright, alright! I’ll help you guys. Where do you want me to put the mistletoe?”

“He’s gonna help her back to the Gryffindor common room so when you see us leaving, that’s your cue to go over there,” Lance says.

Matt nods. “Distract them so I have time to cast the spell and get out of there.”

“Roger that!” Lance exclaims.

The four head back to the others and finish the delicious meal then begin standing up to leave. Lance and Keith make eye contact with Matt and he quickly hurries out of the Great Hall to put the mistletoe into place. They make sure everyone walks slowly back to the Gryffindor common room and exchange smirks when they see the mistletoe above the door. Lance yanks Hannah back from walking over there, Hunk keeps Carlos from walking forward, and Keith stops Tasha from walking under the mistletoe. Ryland and Lucy continue until they stop right underneath it and realize no one else is following. They turn around in confusion and look up when they see Carlos chuckling and pointing above them.

Lucy’s cheeks flare up, red with embarrassment so she looks down at the floor. Ryland turns and glares at Keith and the others. “Did you guys do this?!” Ryland demands.

“I have no idea where that came from!” Carlos exclaims. “Now you gotta kiss her, it’s the law.”

Ryland huffs in frustration at him before turning to Lucy, giving her a soft expression. Keith watches as he gently lifts her chin up and gazes fondly into her eyes before closing the gap between them, kissing her softly. Lucy’s eyes flutter shut and she starts kissing him back, their lips moving in sync with each other.

Keith turns away, suddenly feeling like he’s intruding on a private moment. He finds himself looking at Lance for some reason. He feels enthralled by Lance’s smile as he watches his sister fall more deeply in love with the guy she likes. His cheeks heat up slightly and he looks away, confused by why that happened.

Pidge taps his arm and gestures down the corridor before grabbing Hunk’s arm and bringing him in that direction. Keith grabs Lance’s hand out of habit and brings him along after Pidge. They make their way towards Myrtle’s bathroom, but Pidge stops the guys before they enter. “Okay, you three still need the hairs of Damien’s friends so you can turn into them. I stole three cakes from the Great Hall and put a sleeping potion in them,” Pidge says as she pulls three small cakes from her robes.

“Wait, what about you?” Keith asks as he takes a cake from Pidge.

“I got a hair from Bethany when we dueled at Lubos’s club,” she replies. “She’s an awful wizard by the way. I’m surprised she made it into this year. She couldn’t even counter a simple enlarging spell!” Lance and Hunk snicker and exchange with a smirk with each other.

“You’re right. Okay, I know what three to find,” Keith says. “They should be coming out of the library in a few minutes so if we move now, we can catch them.” Keith leads them towards the library and they place the cakes on a table across from the door before hiding behind a pillar.

Soon enough Keith sees Jack Compton, Victor Martz, and Nathaniel Borgsin walk out of the library, and he internally rolls his eyes at the three. Honestly Keith has no idea why they spend so much time in the library because they never actually study for anything…ever. Keith’s seen their test grades…not good. The three idiots spot the cakes on the table and immediately run over to them, inhaling them like pigs. They smile at each other as they chew, but their smiles falter as they begin to feel sleepy, eventually falling to the ground unconscious. Keith, Hunk, and Lance walk out and grab them, dragging them to a nearby supplies closet. They pluck out a couple of their hairs and Lance and Hunk take Jack’s and Victor’s robes. Keith leaves Nathaniel’s because they’re relatively the same size as each other.

Once the door is shut, Keith, Hunk, and Lance quickly make their way back to Pidge where she has three cups ready for them along with one for herself with Bethany’s hair already inside. The boys each hand Pidge the hairs and watch as she drops them into the cups, watching it disappear into the liquid. She hands each of them a cup, then Lance raises his up to his friends. “Bottoms up!”

All four of them take a sip at once and Keith immediately wants to spit it back out. It tastes like how feet smell, with a mixture of mud. He drops his cup and runs to a stall, slamming the door shut, trying not to vomit into the toilet in front of him. Lance, Hunk, and Pidge eventually follow Keith and go into their own stalls, probably trying not to vomit themselves. He feels himself growing taller and his hair shorten.

Once calmed down, Keith steps out of the stall and looks at himself in the mirror. He no longer has his long black hair, but, instead, has brown hair and a buzz cut like Jack has. His face is rounder and covered in freckles and his skin is much tanner than before. Keith turns when another stall opens and he nearly screams when he sees “Nathaniel” looking back at him.

He and Lance accidentally switched cups.

Lance no longer has his tan Cuban skin, but is almost as pale as Keith once was. His hair is much longer and very blond, looking perfectly like Nathaniel. Keith would’ve thought it was Nathaniel if it weren’t for the Gryffindor robes.

Another stall opens and Victor in Hufflepuff robes that are definitely too big for him steps out. Hunk shrunk at least half a foot, now is shorter than Keith ever was. His skin is lighter than before, but has the same relative hair color. Hunk gives Keith a look and sighs. “I hate this. I think this is worse than Thanksgiving four years ago.”

Keith tilts his head in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“Wait, Keith?” Hunk asks. He looks over at Lance. “What - I thought Lance was supposed to be Jack!”

Lance crosses his arms. “Yeah, I was. Now I’m this blond prick! Nathaniel’s hair is longer than yours, Keith!”

“Stop complaining,” Keith scolds. He knocks on Pidge’s stall. “Pidge, come on. We’ve gotta go!” Keith takes off his robe and tie and hands them to Lance. “Here, you’ll have to wear mine since I didn’t grab Nathaniel’s.”

“Why the heck didn’t you grab them?!” Lance demands, snatching Keith’s robes from him.

“Because Nathaniel and I are the same size,” Keith replies as he gets Jack’s robes. “Deal with it Lance.”

Lance grumbles, but doesn’t argue anymore as he puts Keith’s robes on. Hunk walks over and puts on Victors then goes and knocks on Pidge’s stall again. “Pidge? Are you okay?”

“Um, I don’t think I’m coming,” Pidge says. “Just go without me!”

“What? Why?” Keith asks.

“Don’t argue! Just go!” Pidge exclaims.

Keith, Hunk, and Lance exchange worried expressions, but do what she says and leave. They begin making their way to the Slytherin common room, but stop when they see Tasha walking briskly past with her hair slightly messed up and robes wrinkled. She notices them staring and glares at them, straightening her robes out. The boys exchange a confused expression, but continue on their way. They turn a corner and Keith runs into Hannah who is emerging from a side room. Her eyes widen in fear when she sees them and their eyes widen in fear when they see her. “What are you three doing out?” she demands.

“We could ask you the same question,” Keith replies, trying to sound like Jack.

Hannah huffs and straightens her tie. “Well, I won’t say anything if you won’t.”

Keith raises an eyebrow. “Deal.”

Hannah nods at them and brushes past. Keith gets a whiff of perfume again and scrunches his nose. Once she’s gone, he turns to Lance. “Did Hannah always wear perfume?”

“You noticed it too? Yeah, I have no idea. It’s not Lucy’s so I don’t know where she got it,” Lance replies.

“That’s the second time I’ve smelled it on her,” Keith shares. “What-”

“There you three are!” a voice exclaims from behind them.

Keith, Hunk, and Lance turn around to see Damien walking up to them. “You got bricks in your shoes? Come on!” he barks at them, pushing through to lead them to the common room. They approach the door and Damien crosses his arms. “Pureblood.”

The door slowly opens up, revealing the Slytherin common room. Damien leads them straight towards the black leather couches and plops down. Keith starts following, but stops when he sees Lance and Hunk looking around at the room with curious eyes. He snaps his fingers and gestures to the couches, leading them to sit down.

Damien narrows his eyes suspiciously at them. “You three are acting weird.” He shakes his head. “Never mind, look what I managed to snag.” He smirks and pulls out a wizard newspaper titled _The Daily Prophet_. “There’s a lovely article about stupid Lance’s sister in there.” Damien points to an article about Isa being fined for bewitching a muggle car. “Serves her right…maybe she’ll be fired. I mean she’s obviously going to be a failure like the mother was.”

Keith eyes flicker to Lance’s clenched fists and discreetly places his hand on Lance’s without Damien noticing. Lance gives his hand a squeeze and goes to lace their fingers together, but Keith pulls away when Damien takes the newspaper back from Hunk. “I wonder who the heir is. Last time the heir killed a mudblood girl…I hope this heir kills Kogane. That way I can take his position.”

Keith glares at Damien and opens his mouth to retort, but Damien continues talking. “Not to mention I’d be able to help. My family has a hidden chamber in our dining room floor filled with things that could assist the heir.”

Keith blinks then exchanges shocked expressions with Hunk and Lance. His eyes widen when he sees Lance’s hair beginning to shorten and turn brown. He mouths to him, _your hair_. Lance grabs a strand and his eyes widen at it. The three stand up abruptly and make their way for the door. “Hey! Where are you going!?” Damien demands.

“To get food!” Keith exclaims.

“What?! You just-”

They don’t let him finish and sprint out the door just as the spell completely wears off. Hunk frowns at his suddenly very short robes. Keith laughs at him, but almost trips on his now too long robes. Lance reacts quickly and catches him. “Careful there, shorty.”

Keith glares at him and lifts up the ends of his robe so he can walk. They make their way back to Myrtle’s bathroom where Pidge’s stall is still shut. He takes off Jack’s robes and grabs his own from Lance before walking to Pidge’s stall and knocks. “Pidge, are you okay?”

Myrtle giggles, suddenly floating through the wall. “She looks better than she did before!”

Keith furrows his eyebrows in confusion, but steps back when the door opens. Inside he sees Pidge, but instead of her normal light brown hair, she has furry orange ears and an entire cat face, with the paws and tail, but still looks part human.

“Whoa, Pidge..." Keith trails off.

She sniffles and looks at the ground. “The hair on her robe wasn’t Bethany’s…it was her wretched cat!”

“Pidge, you need to go see Slav now. We’ll come see you tomorrow morning and tell you what we found out, okay?” Keith says, extending a hand to help her out.

Lance and Hunk gasp when they see her. “Oh my goodness…Pidge!” Hunk exclaims.

“Not a word!” Pidge snaps, letting Keith lead her to the door.

Keith turns to them. “We’ll see her tomorrow. You two should head back to your common rooms…it’s getting late. Wait! First bring back the robes to Jack and Victor.”

Lance and Hunk nod, grab the robes, and leave for their respective common rooms while Keith takes Pidge to Slav, making sure to keep her hidden from anyone who walks past while also filling her in on what they found out from Damien. She’s not surprised to hear that Damien wishes Keith would be the next to die, but is surprised to hear that Damien isn’t the heir.

Once they get to the infirmary, Slav immediately motions for Pidge to come lay down and gently lectures her for messing around with Polyjuice potion and tells her it isn’t meant to turn wizards into animals, but luckily doesn't as for why they were using it. Keith waves goodbye and heads back to the Slytherin common room where Damien is still sitting on the couches looking at _The Daily Prophet_. They ignore each other as Keith stomps up the stairs to his bed, suddenly tired after today. He falls asleep easily that night.

 

* * *

 

 

The next day, Keith meets up with Lance and Hunk and they make their way to the infirmary to visit Pidge like they promised, but stop when they hear the Warden yelling at someone in the hallway. They round the corner and see a flood of water seeping out of Myrtle’s bathroom. Once the Warden is out of sight, they enter and aren’t surprised to see the cause of the flooding are the sinks. Hunk and Lance begin shutting the sinks off while Keith takes a look around elsewhere. He peers into each stall, but stops when he notices a book bobbing in one of the toilets. He debates on whether or not to grab it, but decides on grabbing it since no one actually uses these toilets to do their business. He gets some paper towels and dries it off before bringing it over to Hunk and Lance to show them. “Guys…I found something.” Keith hands it to Hunk.

Hunk takes it from Keith and opens it to the first page where the name N. M. Dorra is written. He flips through the pages, but finds that the rest are blank. “That’s odd…the rest are blank.”

“N. M. Dorra?” Lance furrows his eyebrows and thinks for a moment. “Oh! I recognize that name from when I was polishing trophies! He’s the boy who was rewarded for special service to the school fifty years ago.”

Keith feels like he knows the name from somewhere else too, but pushes away the thoughts. “We should take it to Pidge to see what she thinks of it. Maybe she can get the words to appear on the pages.”

Hunk and Lance nod in agreement and follow Keith back to the infirmary where Pidge no longer has the fluffy orange ears or the cat face. She waves, but then starts coughing, eventually coughing up a hairball into a bowl Slav probably gave her. “Feeling any better?” Hunk asks as he pulls up a chair next to her bed.

“Well, I feel normal aside from the fact I’m still coughing up hairballs,” Pidge replies. “Did you guys find anything else out?”

“Well, no, but we found this diary,” Keith says, handing Pidge the black book. “It belongs to an N. M. Dorra. Lance says he recognized the name from when he was dusting trophies.”

“Yeah, apparently, he was rewarded by the school for some special service he did,” Lance says. “The trophy didn’t say for what though…at least I don’t remember if it did or not.”

Pidge flips through the book, eyebrows furrowing at the empty pages. She grabs her wand from the table and recites a few spells to try to get words to appear, but nothing happens. “Hmm…the book must be bewitched with something I don’t know the counter spell to. Do you think this Dorra guy was the one who caught the heir when the Cavern of Mysteries was opened before?”

“I mean it makes sense,” Hunk agrees. “Why else would they award him, but not say what he was awarded for? I’m sure they knew at the time, but over the years they probably wanted the whole Cavern thing to be forgotten so they probably stopped saying what it was for.”

“We should keep the diary and keep trying spells on it,” Keith says, taking the book back from Pidge. “We can let Matt take a look at it since he knows more spells than us.”

“Won’t he have to turn it into Shiro though? Sure, he’s been helping us on everything else, but this is something really serious,” Lance counters. “We’re on our own for this.”

Keith looks between his friends and smirks. “When has that ever been a problem for us? We’ve got this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ryland and Lucy are my absolute favorite couple, hands down. Is it a foreshadowing/parallel to klance? Idk, you be the judge of that ;)
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com/)


	13. False Accusations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> February rolls in and the school has calmed down somewhat. For Valentine's Day, Lubos has everyone make cards for one another and sends dwarves to deliver the letters - Keith, obviously, finds it to be a stupid idea, but it leads to a new discovery with the diary they found in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
> 
> With these new answers, someone has to pay the price.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on this chapter (and the dullness).
> 
> Enjoy!

February brings a bit of calmness to the school since no one has been attacked in a while. Coran happily announces to everyone during breakfast that the mandrakes are becoming moody and secretive or, in other words, entering adolescence and soon will be ready to be made into an elixir. Keith’s mood brightens at word of this because maybe that means people will stop painting him as the bad guy behind all of this. Though, his happy mood doesn’t last very long because Lubos is convinced he’s the one who intimidated the monster into hiding - that’s all he ever blabbers on about in class anymore, completely disregarding the Defense Against the Dark Arts curriculum he probably should be following but isn’t.

By Valentine’s Day, he’s in such a cheerful mood that he decorated the entire Great Hall in pink and organized a troupe of dwarves to deliver valentines. The dwarves (and Keith in general) are not quite so cheerful about it.

As Keith, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk exit the Great Hall after dinner, a dwarf nearly knocks Hunk down delivering him a singing valentine. Keith looks across the corridor and sees Shay blushing with two of her friends giggling next to her. Lance chuckles at Hunk’s embarrassed expression and pats him on the back. “Aw, that’s so cute dude!” he exclaims. “Go over to her!” Lance gently pushes Hunk in her direction and smiles as they begin to walk and talk with each other.

Damien shoves past Keith, knocking him to the ground causing Keith’s bag to spill all over the floor. He laughs at Keith. “Aw, no valentines? Figures, who’d want to send one to you!”

Keith glares at him. “At least I didn’t send any to myself!”

Damien huffs and storms off angrily while Lance helps Keith pick up his spilled belongings. Everything is covered in spilt red ink except for Dorra’s diary. They exchange a confused expression. “We need to look at this. Let’s head to the library,” Lance suggests.

“No. There are too many people in there. Matt will let us use his office!” Keith exclaims.

Lance nods in agreement and they head over to his classroom and knock. “Come in!” Matt exclaims.

Keith opens the door and they walk into the classroom. He immediately smiles at the familiar constellations painted on the ceiling and posters of different kinds of stars on the wall. Matt’s classroom is Keith’s favorite by far. Matt looks up at them from his desk and raises an eyebrow. “What can I do for you two?” he asks.

“Uh, can we look at your books in your office?” Lance asks with an innocent smile.

Matt nods and waves them off. “Yep, just put everything back where you found it once you’re done with it.”

Keith and Lance exchange a smile then hurry up to Matt’s office from the stairs in his classroom and shut the door. Keith makes his way to Matt’s office desk and sits down, opening up the diary. Lance pulls up a chair next to him and they study the blank pages in the book. “Hand me a quill,” Keith instructs.

Lance reaches into Matt’s quill holder and hands Keith one of them. Keith takes it, dips it in some ink then writes his and Lance’s name on the paper. He sighs when nothing happens, but perks up when the words disappear. Keith and Lance exchange a confused expression then turn back to the diary when words begin to appear on the page:

“Whoa,” Lance says in awe. “It can talk!”

Keith quickly writes a reply, saying they found it in a bathroom. “Should I have said that?” Keith asks Lance as the words disappear into the page.

Lance shrugs. “I mean lying probably would’ve been worse. We don’t know what kind of magic was used on this diary…wait a minute.”

“Lance, now’s not the time to be questioning what kind of magic was used on this,” Keith replies. He takes the quill and asks if Niko knows anything about the Cavern of Mysteries. It takes a moment for Niko to reply.

_Yes_

Keith looks at Lance excitedly then asks if he can tell them what he knows.

_No_

_But I can show you._

_Let me take you back fifty years ago._

Suddenly the pages begin flipping on their own, startling Keith and Lance before stopping on a page. The words _13_ _th_ _June_ appear in the top right-hand corner. The binding of the book begins to glow brighter and brighter and, suddenly, consumes Lance and Keith. They appear in the headmaster’s office which looks completely different - for instance all Shiro’s trophies are gone and replaced by books…plus Black’s perch is gone from next to the desk. Keith blinks, trying to get his vision back in focus, but everything stays blurry. He looks down at his tie and his eyes widen when he no longer sees the sharp green of it. Is everything in black and white?

Keith and Lance turn when they hear voices and see Niko Dorra standing with the old headmaster, Alfor Quinn. “Professor, is it possible for me to remain here at Hogwarts during the summer?” Niko asks.

Alfor shakes his head no. “I’m afraid not, Niko. With the recent dangers from the opening of the Cavern of Mysteries, no student may be present on the grounds. We cannot risk another student being killed.”

He then sends Niko out of his office and Keith and Lance follow him down the corridors before he runs into a younger looking, seemingly brighter orange-haired Coran. “Niko? What are you doing out of bed? It’s not safe out here…head back to your dormitory immediately.”

Niko nods and continues on his way down to where the Slytherin common room is located, but takes a turn to where the dungeons are located and waits behind a pillar for a bit until Keith and Lance hear footsteps coming down the hallway. They look and see a much younger looking Slav concealing something inside a box. Niko steps out and points at the box. “Ah ha! You’re the one who opened the Cavern of Mysteries and you have the monster that killed the girl!” he exclaims.

Keith and Lance exchange shocked expressions and turn back when Slav replies, “You’re wrong! Aragog is innocent!”

Niko pulls out his wand and aims it at the box, sending a burst of magic at it and opens the box. A giant hairy spider falls to the ground and scuttles away through the corridor. Slav and Niko continue arguing as Keith’s vision starts to go blurry again. He reaches blindly around for something to hold on to, but the room slowly goes darker until he opens his eyes again and appears back in Matt’s office. He and Lance are look around at the room and at each other, trying to figure out if everything they witnesses actually happen was a dream or real life.

Lance puts his hands on his head and paces around the room. “Bloody hell! Slav opened the Cavern of Mysteries fifty years ago!” he exclaims.

“Shush!” Keith scolds. “Matt can’t hear any of this.” He shoves Niko’s diary back into his bag and grabs Lance’s hand. “Come on, we have to tell Pidge and Hunk this information.” He drags Lance down the stairs and past Matt’s desk where he’s still grading papers.

“Thanks Matt! You’re the best! See you at the game tomorrow!” Lance yells as Keith drags him out of the classroom. They arrive at the infirmary wing and up to Pidge’s bed where Hunk is still sitting by her, chatting away. “GUYS! BIG NEWS! Okay, so, we got the diary to work. Apparently, all we had to do is write on it and it replied!”

Pidge furrows her eyebrows. “Interesting. What did it tell you?”

Lance and Keith exchange nervous expressions then begin telling Pidge and Hunk what Niko showed them in the diary. They make sure to include the fact that Allura’s dad was the headmaster at the time. Pidge and Hunk ask questions about him, but Keith says they weren’t able to find out much. Lance shares how orange Coran’s hair used to be and Hunk nearly chokes because he laughs so hard. Once Keith and Lance get to talking about Slav being the culprit and whether or not they should ask him, Slav walks in and says Keith, Lance, and Hunk have to leave because Pidge has another round of medicine to take.

The three boys exchange nervous expressions before hurrying out. Keith splits off from Hunk and Lance and says he’ll see them at the Hufflepuff versus Gryffindor game tomorrow. He nervously makes his way through the halls alone, looking around to make sure no one is following him. Keith gets back to his dorm and quickly goes up to his bed, but his dreams are plagued with nightmares about the Cavern of Mysteries…

 

* * *

 

 

The next day during breakfast, Coran announces that the mandrakes are still maturing, once delighting him by throwing a wild party in their greenhouse. Once breakfast finishes, the second-year students pick their classes for next year. Hunk, Keith, and Lance discuss what they wanna take next year. The two that stick out to Keith are Care of Magical Creatures and Divination so he signs up for those. Lance and Hunk follow in suit, but Pidge signs up for all of the classes offered. Keith wonders how she plans on doing that, but drops it once Hunk and Lance leave to get ready to watch the Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff game. Lance gives Keith his Gryffindor scarf to wear during the game while Hunk gives Pidge his Hufflepuff scarf.

Once Lance and Hunk get back from getting ready, Keith notices Lance seems upset. “What’s up, Lance?” Keith wonders.

“My dormitory room was broken into and my things were rummaged through and thrown all over the place. Someone stole the diary,” he shares.

Pidge’s eyes widen. “Well, no one except Gryffindors know the password to the common room so a Gryffindor must’ve taken it.”

Lance groans in frustration and makes his way down the hall towards the Quidditch pitch. Keith, Pidge, and Hunk jog to catch up with him. “I can’t believe this! What Gryffindor would do this?!”

Keith shrugs. “Maybe they were stealing it for someone else. Lance, we don’t know for sure if a Gryffindor is the culprit. We-”

_Kill…_

_Time to kill…_

Keith jumps and looks around in fear. “It’s back. The voice-” He grabs Lance’s arm. “Did you hear it?”

Lance nods. “Yeah…where the hell is it coming from?”

“Wait!” Hunk exclaims. “I have an idea!”

He suddenly runs off in the opposite direction, leaving Lance, Keith, and Pidge standing there in confusion.

They exchange shrugs and finish their walk to the pitch. Keith and Pidge wave goodbye to Lance, wishing him luck and find Coran to sit with him. He smiles when he sees Keith and Pidge. “Hello! Well, I see you two are split on who to root for!”

“Honestly, Gryffindor has a strong defense now that Lance is a Beater…the Chasers won’t get much done,” Keith replies smugly.

“Uh…did you forget about Hunk? Also known as the youngest Keeper to ever be chosen for the Hufflepuff team? Dude, the Gryffindor Chasers won’t be able to do anything!” Pidge counters. “Today, my blood isn’t blue like it usually is…because blood is blue. My heart is pumping yellow blood through my veins.”

Keith rolls his eyes and sits down. “Whatever, Pidge. You’re gonna be in tears when Gryffindor wins.”

She plops down next to him. “Doubt it!”

Keith directs his attention to the field as the teams take their positions. He smiles when he sees Lance in his Beater position, but it disappears when he doesn’t see Hunk across the field in front of Hufflepuff’s three hoops.

Allura blows her whistle and instructs everyone to return to their houses. She flies over to Keith and Pidge. “Meet me down on the ground…you two need to come with me.” She then flies over to Lance and says something to him.

Keith and Pidge exchange worried expressions, but make their way down the stairs to where Allura and Lance are. Allura leads them into the castle and up to the infirmary where they see Hunk laying on the bed motionless with a small mirror in his hand. Shay sits next to him with her hand on his arm, clearly, she had been crying. Lance gives her a hug. “He asked if I could borrow a mirror, but I didn’t know why. When I asked he didn’t tell me! I could’ve stopped him, but I didn’t,” Shay says.

“It’s okay, Shay,” Lance says. “We’re the ones who didn’t stop him when he ran off.”

“Okay, kids, Shiro is making an announcement to everyone, but I should tell you all now. Students are now required to stay in their common rooms from six o’clock on and must always be escorted by teachers to and from class,” Allura shares. “If worse comes to worst, the school might be closed down. I have to stay here to tend to Hunk and the other petrified kids, but Coran will escort the each of you back to your common rooms.” She nods over at where Coran is standing. “Whenever you all are ready of course.” She walks over to the other petrified students.

Pidge yanks Keith aside. “Slav’s not here when he should be. That means something is definitely up.”

Keith nods. “So, you think we should talk to him tonight?”

“Yes, we have to tell Lance,” Pidge replies.

Keith waits until Lance and Shay are done talking before waving Lance over. “We have to talk to Slav tonight.”

“Yeah, I was just thinking that. Okay, so, since I have the invisibility cloak, I can pick you guys up at your common rooms,” Lance suggests.

Pidge shakes her head no. “It’ll take too long for you to find it so you can just pick us up at Matt’s office. I’ll tell Coran that Keith and I have to talk to him about something. You go back to your dorm and get the cloak to sneak out.”

Lance nods. “Right, better idea.” He turns back to Shay. “Shay? You ready to go?”

Shay sniffles and nods, walking over to Coran with Lance, Keith, and Pidge. “Ready to head back to your dorms?” Coran asks with a smile.

“Yes! Well, Shay and Lance are. Keith and I have to stop by my brother’s classroom. We have to talk to him about a question on our homework,” Pidge says.

Coran nods. “Alright! He can take you two back to your dorms then. I’ll drop you two off first then Lance and Shay!”

He leads them through the corridor and stops at Matt’s classroom before knocking on Matt’s classroom door. Keith hears some feet shuffle then the door open. Matt raises his eyebrow when he sees everyone. “What’s up?”

“Pidge and Keith have a question about some homework for you so I’m dropping them off here. Will you drop them off at their dorms when they’re done?” Coran asks.

Matt nods. “Yeah sure! Come on in guys.” He moves aside so Keith and Pidge can walk in. Keith turns and looks at Lance and smiles when Lance gives him a reassuring smile. Matt shuts the door once Keith and Pidge are in and crosses his arms. “Alright, I know you two aren’t here with a question - you both are doing too well.”

“Yeah, we just need your office until Lance gets over here with the invisibility cloak,” Pidge replies, tapping her foot.

“Whoa whoa whoa,” Matt says, stepping in front of the door. “What the hell are you guys up to? Does this have to do with the Polyjuice potion you made?”

Pidge sighs. “Yes, but we can’t tell you anything else. It’s for your own good…we don’t want you to get in trouble with Shiro.”

“I don’t need to tell Shiro everything!” Matt exclaims. “Pidge, you need me on your side. I can be your way out if you guys get in trouble.”

“We’ve been this careful so far,” Pidge replies.

Keith nods. “Yeah, we don’t want you to lose your job because of us.”

Matt walks up to Pidge and Keith and kneels down in front of them, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. “Guys, I’m not gonna lose my job. You can trust me with things like this, okay? I’m good at getting myself out of trouble.”

Keith and Pidge exchange a nervous express then turn back to Matt. “Okay, we’re going to see Slav to question him if he opened the Cavern of Mysteries fifty years ago,” Pidge reveals.

Matt’s eyes widen and he stands back up. “Slav opened the Cavern of Mysteries?! Did he open it again now?! Wait, how did you find this out?”

“There’s this guy named Niko M. Dorra who caught Slav fifty years ago the last time when it was opened,” Keith explains. “Lance, Hunk, and I found his diary in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom when we were on our way to visit Pidge in the infirmary when she was still a cat. We told her about it, but we couldn’t get any words to appear on the page. Lance and I then came to your office here to look closer at it and, when we wrote on it, the ink disappeared and Niko replied with words of his own. He took us to a memory in the diary of him catching Slav in the act.”

Matt blinks a few times. “Well, um, that’s a lot to take in.”

Pidge nods then looks at the door when there’s a knock. “That’s Lance. Are you going to stop us?”

Matt shakes his head no. “I won’t stop you, but Slav wouldn’t do something like that. There’s more to this than we all realize. I’ll do some research on my own, okay? Please be careful.” He opens the door and waits for Lance to move the invisibility cloak off his head. “Pidge and Keith filled me in, you don’t have to think of a dumb excuse.”

Lance raises his eyebrows. “Great! So, you’re on our side?”

“Yeah, I’m gonna read more into this Niko M. Dorra guy…do you have the diary still? I’d like to know what kind of magic was used to make it,” Matt says.

Lance shakes his head no. “Someone stole it from my trunk in my dorm. We think the actual Heir to Slytherin took it when they found out it was gone.”

“Alright, well, that’s disappointing, but it doesn’t matter. You three better head out now,” Matt says, gently pushing Keith and Pidge towards the door. “Good luck!”

Lance puts the cloak over the three of them and they head out towards Slav’s cabin. They knock on the door and Slav appears holding a crossbow, but quickly puts it away when he sees the three kids. “Oh…come in.” He moves so Keith, Pidge, and Lance can walk in and Slav immediately shuts the door. “You three shouldn’t be here. It isn’t safe. Wait, where’s Hunk?”

“He’s petrified,” Keith replies. “You should know that.”

Slav shakes his head no and opens his mouth to reply, but there’s another knock on the door. Lance quickly puts the cloak over the three of them again and Slav points to the far end of the cabin before opening the door. They see Shiro enter with a man Keith doesn’t recognize. “Who’s that?” Keith whispers into Lance’s ear.

“The Minister of Magic, Mitch Iverson,” Lance whispers back.

Keith narrows his eyes at the man’s nasty glare. Overall this man rubs Keith the wrong way and he immediately wants to punch him in the face or something.

“Ah, Takashi, Mr. Iverson, to what do I owe this pleasure?” Slav says innocently.

Iverson clears his throat. “Slav, in light of the present circumstances, I must ask you to leave Hogwarts and reside in Beta Traz until the events stop or are solved.”

Keith covers his mouth in shock. Beta Traz is an awful wizard prison reserved for the worse of the worst. Shiro crosses his arms. “Mitch, I really don’t think this is necessary. I trust Slav entirely with my life.”

Keith, Pidge, and Lance exchange a shocked expression. They never expected those words to leave Shiro’s mouth.

“I’m sorry Takashi, but I must act or else the ministry will think I’m doing nothing to stop the attacks. Slav’s history is muddled with rumors about the Cavern of Mysteries so he has to be the ministry’s first target.”

The door suddenly opens again, revealing Sendak Morrison. He storms inside and exclaims, “Twelve of the school governors have signed a petition for Shiro to step down as headmaster. Clearly his opinion is biased towards his coworkers and he cannot make a good decision.”

Shiro nods. “Of course. If that’s what the school governors want. You will find that I will only truly have left this school when no one is loyal to me anymore. Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.”

He allows Sendak to take him out of the cabin. Before Iverson takes Slav away, he quickly says out loud, “Follow the spiders to find the culprit and feed Fang!”

With that, the door slams shut and Pidge, Lance, and Keith are left alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will probably be the last chapter I post before Christmas rolls in because I have a Christmas chapter I'm working on for the Cops AU then it'll be back to finishing this story up!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com/)


	14. The Spiders Hold the Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> April showers bring May flowers. Spring melts away the snow of winter, but, alas, cannot wash away the terrifying inevitability of the Cavern's monster attacking again. With Hunk still petrified, Keith, Lance, and Pidge are forced to take Slav's advice of following the spiders on their own. They meet a large spider named Aragog who answers many of their questions about the Cavern of Mysteries...what could go wrong?
> 
> Spoiler alert: a lot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY NEW YEAR! *fireworks*
> 
> As promised, here's the next chapter! Everything is written, pictures are being drawn, and the story is being edited right now - soon enough this book will be done! I have already outlined the entire third book and plan on starting to write that once I return from Florida (UNIVERSAL STUDIOS YO)
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Spring rolls in, sending the snow melting away and the flowers blooming once again, but the loveliness outside the castle can’t take Keith’s mind off the terror inside the castle. He ponders Slav’s advice regarding the spiders and Shiro’s words about help and loyalty, but he doesn’t know how to go forward with either. Frankly, it’s making him frustrated beyond compare. What doesn’t help Keith’s poor attitude is the fact that Damien and Bethany can’t seem to shut up about the fact that their fathers helped get rid of Shiro as headmaster and even start a petition that Thace apply to be headmaster.  _ Yeah right, _ Keith thinks to himself.  _ Over Matt’s dead body. _

When he hears them talking about it on his way to Defense Against the Dark Arts, Lance has to physically hold him back from attacking the both of them. As much as Keith knows Lance would love to see him kick their butts, he would rather not have Keith get in trouble. The two boys walk in the classroom and Paul walks up to them, looking ashamed. “Keith? I’m sorry I said those mean things about you and accused you of being the heir. I know you’d never hurt a close friend like Hunk,” Paul says.

Keith smiles at Paul. “I forgive you. I know you were just upset because Delia was one of the people attacked.”

Paul nods. “Yeah…I miss her a lot.” He sighs and walks back to his seat while Keith and Lance take theirs in the back of the class.

While Lubos rambles on about something he did in his past instead of teaching, Keith takes the opportunity to practice the two new charms Professor Holt taught them - the engorgement charm and the shrinking charm. He first uses the engorgement charm on his quill and whispers the spell name, Engorgio, waving his wand in a circular motion. Then he watches as the quill slowly begins to grow larger and larger until he whispers the counter-spell, Reducio, waving his wand in a V formation. The quill returns to its original size. Keith goes to try it out on Lance’s book, the one he is currently asleep on, but stops when he sees a trail of spiders fleeing towards the Forbidden Forest.

He whacks Lance with his wand to wake him up then gestures to the spiders. Lance gives the spiders a disgusted look then gives Keith a glare, clearly upset for waking him up, but turns his attention back to Lubos when he begins talking about the school.

“I most certainly believe that the school is safe now that Slav is gone,” Lubos states firmly. “Word says he opened the Cavern of Mysteries fifty years before. The attacks should stop now that he’s gone.”

Lance and Keith exchange annoyed expressions and leave the classroom once Lubos dismisses everyone. Keith pulls Lance aside and looks at him with a determined expression. “We need answers about what happened fifty years ago. I think we should take Slav’s advice and follow the spiders,” he says.

“But I hate spiders!” Lance whines. “Ugh, fine. We better find Pidge then. She should be in Matt’s office. I have to fetch the cloak first so we’ll have to stop by my common room.”

Keith nods and follows Lance to the Gryffindor common room. He waits outside while Lance hurries in to grab his cloak. Once he comes out, they make their way to Matt’s classroom and find the siblings discussing something with each other. They see Lance and Keith and immediately direct their attention to them. “Hey guys, what’s up?” Pidge asks.

“We’re gonna follow the spiders like Slav said,” Keith says.

Pidge raises her eyebrows. “Right now? Okay.” She turns to Matt. “Wish us luck.”

“Please be careful!” Matt exclaims after them once Lance puts the cloak over the three of them.

Keith, Lance, and Pidge make their way outside the castle and into Slav’s hut where Fang greets them happily. They leave the cloak in Slav’s hut and set out into the forest with Fang scampering nearby. Keith makes sure they stay on path with the spiders, but eventually they stray from the path and end up following the spiders way off course.

Eventually they hear something large moving behind the trees. Lance clings to Keith while Pidge readies her wand to stun anything that tries to attack them. Suddenly, Isa’s once flying car that hit the Whomping Willow jumps out from behind the trees and zooms past them, running wild in the Forbidden Forest. Lance releases Keith and laughs with him about it while Pidge rolls her eyes at them. They go to continue down the path, but they’re captured by four clicking horse-sized spiders. Lance, who hates spiders, screams and freezes with fear, trying to reach his friends, but can’t quite reach Keith’s hand. Pidge squirms in her spider’s grasp and looks at Keith with an equally scared expression. Fang whimpers behind Keith, clearly unhappy with the situation too.

The spiders carry them into a clearing where there are giant webs forming a dome above them and many other large spiders skitter across the webbing. They come face to face with a large, blind, and elderly spider who calls himself Aragog. He has brown hair covering his body and large black eyes. “Kill them!” he orders. Lance whimpers in fear and doesn’t tear his gaze away from the ceiling of web.

“Wait!” Pidge exclaims. “Slav sent us! Please, we have questions!”

“Slav sent you? Hmm.” Aragog ponders for a moment. “Slav never sent humans to our hollow before.”

“Please,” Pidge begs. “He’s in trouble. That’s why we’ve come.”

“In trouble? Why has he sent you?” Aragog questions.

“The school thinks that Slav has been sending a…” Keith had no idea what to call the monster. “A something on students. They’ve taken him to Beta Traz.”

“That is what the school thought years ago…years and years ago. I remember it because that’s why they made him leave the school. They believed  _ I _ was the monster that dwelled in what they called the Cavern of Mysteries. They thought Slav opened the Cavern and set me free.”

“You didn’t come from the Cavern of Mysteries?” Keith asks.

“No!” Aragog yells. “I had been given to Slav as an egg and was raised in a cupboard in the castle. Slav fed me scraps from the table…he is my good friend. When I was discovered and blamed for the death of a girl, he protected me. I’ve lived here ever since and Slav still visits me.”

Pidge looks at Keith then at Aragog. “So, you never attacked anyone?”

“Never. It was my instinct, but out of respect for Slav, I never harmed a human. The body of the girl was found in a bathroom, but I never saw any other part of the castle except the cupboard I grew up in. Our kind like the quiet…”

Keith exchanges a confused expression with Pidge before looking back at Aragog. “Do you know what did kill the girl? Because whatever it is, it’s back and attacking people-”

His words die in his throat when a loud outbreak of rustling and shifting of thousands of long legs move angrily. “The monster in the Cavern of Mysteries is most feared by spiders,” Aragog answers. “We do not speak its name here. I never even told Slav the name of it.”

Keith shakes his head to Pidge, not wanting to press the subject further. “Well…we’ll just be going then,” he says.

“Going?” Aragog says slowly. “Oh, I think not…”

Keith grabs Pidge’s and Lance’s arms. “But-”

“My children don’t harm Slav on my command because he treated me well, but I cannot deny them fresh meat when it walks willingly into our hollow. Goodbye, friends of Slav.”

Keith whirls around and eyes widen in fear when he sees a wall of spiders coming towards them. He opens his mouth to scream, but shuts it when he hears a horn. He and Pidge turn to see the McClain car rumbling over to them. Panicked, Pidge quickly ushers Fang into the back seat while Keith shoves Lance in before hopping in the driver’s seat and Pidge in the passenger’s seat. He and Pidge scream in terror as a spider lands on the hood of the car.

“KEITH! DO SOMETHING!” Pidge shrieks.

Keith grabs hold of the wheel and slams on the gas, causing the car to shoot forward. The spider flies off the hood of the car, landing on the roof of the car before landing on the ground. Keith continues to drive away while more spiders continue to chase after them. Occasionally a spider will drop in front of them, forcing Keith to swerve out of the way. He has no idea how he’s able to control this car so well, but something tells him the car is assisting him in some way.

They finally escape the Forbidden Forest in the car and it stops once it reaches Slav’s hut. The car immediately ejects them and drives away into the forest once again. Keith collects his senses and heads into the hut to let Fang back, give him some food, and grabs Lance’s cloak before walking back out to Pidge and Lance. He sees Pidge rubbing Lance’s arm comforting him, but once he sees Keith, he immediately hugs him tightly.

“It’s okay, Lance. The spiders are gone,” Keith reassures him, handing Pidge the cloak.

“I’m gonna have nightmares forever,” Lance whimpers.

Keith hugs him tightly. “I’m sorry.”

They hug for a few more seconds before Pidge taps their shoulders. “We should head back. Lance, are you okay to drop us off at our dormitories?” He looks at her with a terrified expression. “That’s a no.” She looks at Keith. “Can you do it and keep the cloak with you ‘till tomorrow?”

Keith nods and puts it over them, leading them back into the castle. Pidge and Keith drop Lance off first, making sure he gets inside safely. Luckily Paul is still awake to bring Lance up to the beds. Next Keith drops Pidge off at the Ravenclaw tower on his way to the Slytherin common room.

Once he gets into bed after putting the cloak away, he suddenly gets the thought that Moaning Myrtle could be the girl found in the bathroom 50 years ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is pretty short, but it contains a lot of important information. I don't know when 15 will be up, but definitely within the next week or so.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> (Please be kind in the comment section! Both the artist and I work very hard on this!)  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com/)


	15. A Kidnapping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Studying for exams with Pidge is absolute torture for Keith and Lance. It wasn't so bad last year since they had Hunk with them, but now that he's petrified, Pidge won't stop complaining about it. Though, they won't have to wait much longer since the Mandrakes are ready to be cut and served to the petrified victims. During a visit to Hunk, they discover some new information that could help them figure out where the Cavern of Mysteries is and who is behind it all. Lubos offers his "expertise" to infiltrate the Cavern, but when Keith, Lance, and Pidge go to offer their help...they discover the truth behind it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another day another chapter! As I said before, they're all written and ready to be posted, but I'm just waiting for the drawings to be done. I've started book three, but won't post anything until this book is done :)
> 
> Enjoy!

After lunch the next day, Keith, Lance, and Pidge speculate ways to enter Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom to question her about her death, but they don’t seem to be coming up with many good ideas. “We could still use the invisibility cloak, Lance says. “I don’t see how that’s a bad idea.”

Pidge groans. “Lance, the professors will know we’re missing and I don’t wanna risk Matt’s job more than we already have.”

Keith rubs his forehead. “Guys, we’re gonna be late to class. We can meet in Matt’s office and discuss this later. If worse comes to worst, Matt can just escort us somewhere or whatever. Pidge, he’s not gonna lose his job. Trust me, Shiro wouldn’t do that to his best friend.” He stands up and grabs Lance’s arm. “We’ll see you later Pidge.”

Pidge groans. “I miss Hunk.” She storms off towards Charms while Keith and Lance head to Transfiguration.

Lance scoffs as they enter Allura’s classroom. “Pidge just misses Hunk because he’s on her  _ intellectual level _ or whatever. We can be on her level! We’re smart!”

Damien scoffs. “Whatever you two are talking about, you aren’t smart enough for anything.”

Keith whirls around and glares at him. “Excuse me? You’re not even in the top fifty in the class! Another thing-”

Damien stands up and glares down at Keith. “Yeah? What’s that?”

Keith goes to punch him in the face, but Lance yanks him away once Allura walks in. “Alright, everyone please take your seats,” she says walking up to the front of the room. “I am talking to you, Lance, Keith, and Damien. No fighting in my classroom - save that for your own time.” She turns to the class and smiles. “Before I start today’s lesson, I have an announcement to make. Everything we have learned past Christmas break will be in the final exam next week. Now-”

Keith’s eyes widen and he turns to Lance in shock while a couple students stand up, shouting in protest. The rest of the class joins in the protests and Allura crosses her arms. She allows them to yell for a few more seconds before raising her hand to silence everyone. “It is not my fault none of you have studied. Now, we will be learning how to turn an animal into a water goblet. Watch carefully.” She turns to the black bird on the stand next to her. “One, two, three. Vera Verto.” As she counts down, she taps the bird and, once she says the spell, the bird slowly begins to shrink and morph into the water goblet. The legs each become one to turn into the stem and the claws and talons flatten into the foot while the body and head shift into the rim and bowl of the water goblet. Once finished, a glittering silver water goblet stands in the place of the bird.

Allura smiles and turns to the class. “Would anyone like to try?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Keith sees Lance shrink back in his chair so he doesn’t get called on. Keith raises his hand. “I’ll try.”

Allura smiles at Keith and nods. “Okay Keith. Remember, tap the animal three times then say the spell.”

Keith nods then turns to the rat in front of him and raises his wand. “One, two, three. Vera Verto.” A burst of crystal clear light mist comes from his wand and the rat soon slowly shifts and morphs into the water goblet. It stands on its hind legs which turn into the stem and the feet and tail become the foot. The body and head become the bowl and rim of the water goblet. Keith nods at the golden water goblet sitting in front of him and smiles widely at Allura. “Like that?”

Allura nods and claps. “Excellent work Keith! Everyone get to work and help your desk partner if they’re struggling.” She begins walking around, helping other students.

Lance tries a few times, unsuccessful most of the time, but on his final try he turns the brown bird in front of him into a bronze water goblet. Keith smiles widely at him and offers him a high five which Lance graciously gives him. Maybe the next few days won’t be so bad. How hard could studying for exams be?

Turns out it SUCKS. Lance, Keith, and Pidge spend the next few days in the library whenever they have time to study. Keith didn’t think this would be so bad, but boy was he wrong. If Pidge doesn’t have a book in front of her, she spends her time complaining about Hunk being petrified and her missing her study buddy. Keith almost uses his wand to set himself on fire, but Lance stops him and tells him she just misses him.

Keith grabs his arm and pulls him out of earshot of Pidge. “I miss Hunk too, but you don’t hear me complaining every thirty seconds about it! Technically you should be complaining more than her because he’s been your best friend since you were babies!”

Lance chuckles. “Well, that is true and Hunk  _ is _ my best friend, but I think he’s closer with Pidge nowadays.” He smiles softly at Keith. “I view you as closer to me than Hunk has been the past two years.”

Keith giggles and hugs Lance tightly. “I’ve never been someone’s best friend before.”

“Yeah,” Lance replies, hugging Keith back. “Pidge knows this too and I think she feels lonely because we’ve got each other while she doesn’t have Hunk at the moment.”

Keith releases Lance and nods. “Okay, I see what you’re getting at. Now I feel bad for getting mad.”

“Nah, she was being a bit obnoxious about it.” Lance smiles. “Come on, let’s get Pidge and head to the Great Hall; I’m starving!”

 

* * *

 

 

Three days before the exams at breakfast, Allura and Coran make the announcement that the Mandrakes are ready to be cut and used to restore the petrified victims. Everyone is joyous about it and begins mixing together to sit with their friends in other houses. Keith wonders why Allura and Shiro doesn’t try to stop them, but lets it go when he sees Lance waving him over. He gets up and takes a seat next to Pidge and across from Lance. Lucy and Marco make their way over and sit next to Lance looking slightly nervous.

“Lucy? Marco? What’s wrong?” Lance wonders.

Lucy opens her mouth to reply, but Hannah appears out of nowhere and shoves herself between Lance and Lucy. “It’s none of your business.” She glares at her other siblings. “Move it or lose it!”

Marco and Lucy hurry off and Lance punches Hannah’s arm. “What the hell Hannah!? They could’ve had information on the Cavern of Mysteries!”

Hannah chuckles and blushes. “Yeah, uh, what they were going to tell you wasn’t about the Cavern…they saw me doing something.”

Lance tilts his head in confusion. “What did-”

“Nope! Not gonna happen!” She kisses Lance’s forehead and waves goodbye to Keith and Pidge, standing up to leave before Lubos announces he has to move the Gryffindor and Slytherin first years to their classes.

Keith and Lance say goodbye to Pidge and follow Lubos down the corridors. They notice he seems unhappy by the situation. “I don’t understand why this extra precaution is necessary!” he complains. “There is no threat of the Cavern anymore!”

Keith smirks at Lance then turns to Lubos. “If you say there’s no threat, then you should let us escort ourselves to our next class.”

Lubos hums thoughtfully and nods. “You’re right! Brilliant idea, Keith. This is why you’re one of my favorites.” He turns and heads towards his own classroom, leaving Lance and Keith able to dash towards Myrtle’s bathroom.

As the boys make their way over, they run into Allura. She crosses her arms. “Where are you two going? I thought Lubos was in charge of taking you to your next class.”

Keith exchanges a panicked expression with Lance before turning back to Allura. “Uh…we were going to visit Hunk!”

Allura looks between them suspiciously, but sighs then nods. “Very well…just be careful.” With that, she leaves them alone.

Not wanting to be caught in their lie, Keith takes Lance to the infirmary and they pull up seats next to Hunk. Keith puts his hand on Hunk’s cold, frozen hand, but feels something in his fist. He furrows his eyebrows and removes it, uncrumpling the paper. “Whoa…Lance, check this out!” Keith exclaims, motioning Lance to come and sit next to him.

The paper displays a paragraph of information about a very large serpent called the Baku. Underlined in the paragraph are specific pieces of information Hunk felt were important. “Hunk underlined some things,” Lance comments, pointing to the page.

“It lived for hundreds of years, speaks in Parseltongue, kills with its stare, is the enemy of spiders, and is killed from the crow of a rooster,” Keith reads. He looks at the bottom of the page. “Oh, Hunk wrote the word  _ pipes _ at the bottom.” He turns to Lance. “What could that mean?”

“Maybe that’s how it moves across the school? Wait! Maybe the Baku is the voice we’ve been hearing!” Lance exclaims. “Pipes…perhaps the pipes in Myrtle’s bathroom?”

Keith nods. “We have to find Pidge and tell Allura what we found! Come on!” He grabs Lance’s hand and drags him out, heading to the staff room, but they slam into someone, causing all of them to fall to the ground. Keith groans and rubs his head then notices he ran into Pidge. “Pidge! We were just looking for you!”

“I was looking for you! Matt just bolted because Allura called the teachers in for a meeting in the staff room,” Pidge explains. “What were you doing?”

Keith hands her the slip of paper Hunk had. “Read this. We have to listen in on that meeting.” He leads them to the staff room and they hide behind a row of robes.

Once all the teachers are in, Allura begins talking. “I am afraid I have some terrible news. Lucy McClain has been taken into the Cavern of Mysteries. Written on the wall were the words ‘ _ Her skeleton will lie in the Cavern forever _ .’ The school has to be closed and we must send home the students tomorrow morning.”

Lubos finally enters and Matt glares at him. “Hey, Lubos! Why don’t  _ you _ take on the monster by yourself! You’ve been boastful all year about it being scared of you so why don’t you do something about it?!”

Professor Holt puts a hand on Matt’s shoulder. “Matt, I don’t-”

“No, no! It’s a brilliant idea! I will go prepare right now!” Lubos exclaims before walking out of the room.

Lance, Pidge, and Keith follow him to his office to offer him help by telling him what they know about the monster, but they find him packing his bags. “You’re leaving?” Lance asks with a sad tone.

Lubos jumps, startled and turns around. “What? Oh, well, I-”

“You’re a fraud!” Keith exclaims, pointing a finger at him. “You never did anything in your books! If they were true, you wouldn’t be running away like a coward!”

Lubos crosses his arms. “Fine, I’ve never fought a dark arts creature before. I’ve only interviewed people who did these things, then I erased their memories and claimed their heroics as my own.”

“You’re a pathetic excuse for a wizard!” Pidge yells. “Wait ‘till we tell Shiro about this.”

Lubos chuckles. “I don’t think that will happen.” He pulls his wand out. “I’m going to erase your memories of this entire conversation!”

Pidge pulls her wand out and yells, “Expelliarmus!” Lubos’s wand flies from his hand into hers and she keeps her wand pointed at him. Lance pulls out his wand and points it at him too.

“You’re coming with us,” Keith growls, grabbing his arm and pushing him out the door towards Myrtle’s bathroom. Once they enter, Myrtle appears with her arms crossed. Keith notices her and looks up at her. “Myrtle, I have to ask you a question.”

She floats down in front of him. “What is it?”

“How did you die?” he asks slowly.

Myrtle blinks at him then looks away. “I don’t really remember how it all happened. I just remember I was crying in the bathroom then I heard a boy’s voice. I left my stall to tell him to leave me alone, but I saw a pair of purple eyes then, suddenly, I was a ghost. I returned here to haunt Olive Hornby, the girl who always bullied me.”

Keith nods. “Thank you, Myrtle.” He turns back to Lance, Pidge, and Lubos and see them looking at one of the sinks. He walks over and notices a small snake carved on the taps in the sink. Keith exchanges a knowing look with Lance then turns back to the sink. He speaks in Parseltongue, ordering the sink to open and it complies.

The sink reveals a large pipe descending downwards like a slide. Keith pushes Lubos in first. “Tell us if it is safe once you reach the bottom!”

Lubos screams as he slides down the pipe and Keith hears a thud at the bottom after a couple seconds. “It’s fine!” Lubos yells.

Keith hops in next followed by Lance and Pidge. Once they reach the bottom, they find many broken animal bones, most of them small animals like rats and mice. Keith grimaces and tries to step aside from a giant pile, but ends up crushing a set of ribs from a dead rat. He huffs in frustration and turns to see a giant Baku’s skin that had been shed. Keith’s eyes widen in fear and they scan all the way down one of the pipes where the skin reaches. Lance elbows him and go to closely examine it, but they turn back around when Pidge yelps. Keith raises his wand and parries the spell Lubos sends at them, causing it to backfire on Lubos. Suddenly an avalanche of rocks falls from the ceiling, knocking Keith and Lance away from Pidge and Lubos thus creating a solid barrier between them. “Pidge?! Are you okay?!” Keith yells.

“I’m fine, but what about you two?! You have no way of getting back!” Pidge yells.

“Try to make a hole through the rocks! Lance and I will keep going through the tunnel!” Keith replies. He turns to Lance and gives him a nervous expression.

Lance, in return, gives Keith a reassuring smile, extending his hand out to him. “We’ve got this, Keith. I believe in us.”

Keith nods and takes Lance’s hand and walks with him over the broken bones of deceased animals before approaching a wall engraved with glittering serpents.

Lance clears his throat and speaks in Parseltongue,  _ Open the door _ . The snakes slowly retract back to the hinge of the door and it slowly opens outward. Keith and Lance exchange a determined expression with each other, then enter the Cavern of Mysteries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I return to school from winter break on the 14th so I'll try to get as much done as I can before then. Update on Cop AU: I'm planning the next chapter of that, but don't have a specific time when it will be done.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Please be kind in the comment section...the artist and I work very hard on this and are striving to get better!  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com/)


	16. The Baku's Cavern

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance walk through the snake-designed door and find themselves in a large room with giant bakus lining the walls all the way towards a giant statue of Salazar Slytherin himself. Below the statue is Lucy McClain's unconscious body, but she's not the only thing hiding in the Cavern of Mysteries...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three chapters in one week? Unheard of! Only one more to go!
> 
> Enjoy!

Keith and Lance enter the serpent lined Cavern of Mysteries and approach an enormous stone figure of Salazar Slytherin. Keith finds himself uneased at the statue, but directs his attention to Lance when he lets go of his hand and runs to the feet of the statue where Lucy McClain’s figure lies. He hurries and kneels next to Lance, setting his wand aside to get a better look at Lucy. Keith grimaces at her paled state and limp body. He reaches out to touch her arm and sighs when it’s cold. Lance fumbles around, searching for her wand, but huffs in frustration when he doesn’t find it. “Where’s her wand!?” Lance demands. “Why doesn’t she have her wand!?”

Keith opens his mouth to answer, but turns around when he senses someone else in the room. He sees the misty, shadowy figure of Niko Dorra making his way towards them. Keith elbows Lance and gestures over.

“Niko Dorra?” Keith asks. “Are you a ghost?”

“More like a memory that has been preserved for fifty years, but I guess you could also call me a ghost,” Niko speaks slowly. “The girl is still alive…but only just.”

“Niko!” Lance exclaims. “You have to help Keith and I get Lucy out of here! The Baku will-”

“It won’t come ‘till it’s called,” Niko replies, picking up Keith’s wand and examining it.

Keith stands up and narrows his eyes, holding his hand out. “Give me my wand, Niko.”

“You won’t be needing it,” Niko says.

“We need to get out of here. Enough playing around, Niko. Give me my wand back, now,” Keith orders.

“Niko, please, we have to get out of here before my sister dies,” Lance pleads.

“I can’t do that!” Niko exclaims. “It’s not time yet.”

Keith rubs his forehead. “How did you get Lucy like this? She’s a smart girl, why would she let herself get like this?”

Niko chuckles. “Well, Keith Kogane, I will tell you. Lucy found my diary and poured all of her worries about her Hogwarts grades because her twin keeps getting better grades than her. Then she told me about her relationship with a boy named Ryland and expressed she didn’t think she is enough for him. I wrote back, comforting her, but through this dialogue, I grew stronger and eventually poured a little of my soul inside her. I convinced her to open the Cavern of Mysteries.”

“That’s a lie!” Lance exclaims. “Lucy would never do that!”

“It’s the truth, Lance McClain. It was Lucy who sent the Baku at those petrified wizards and that cat. She wrote the messages on the walls.”

“Why?” Keith wonders. “She would never do that willingly.”

“Because I said so!” Niko exclaims. “I find I can be very persuasive…not that she knew what she was doing since she was in a sort of trance. Eventually she tried to dispose of it, but then you two found it! I had been so anxious to meet the both of you.”

Keith clenches his fists. “Why did you want to meet us?”

“I knew I had to talk to you so I showed you the capturing of that oaf Slav to gain your trust,” Niko replies.

“Slav is our friend!” Lance shouts. “You framed him!”

Niko shrugs. “It was my word against his. Only Alfor thought he was innocent.”

Keith smirks. “Alfor saw right through you, didn’t he?”

“Yes, he kept an annoying watch on me so I knew I couldn’t open the Cavern again. I left behind a diary to capture my sixteen-year-old self so that one day I could lead another to finish the work begun by Salazar Slytherin himself,” Niko shares.

“And you chose my sister!?” Lance demands angrily. “Why!?”

Niko raises an eyebrow at Lance then looks Keith up and down, ignoring Lance’s question entirely. “Well, I must admit I wish it was you, Keith, who found my diary from the start. You have much more potential for greatness inside than Lucy could ever have.” He shrugs. “Oh well, I had to work with what I had. Anyway, Lucy was the one who broke into your dorm, Lance, and stole the diary back. She had already put so much of herself inside it that I was able to persuade her to write her own farewell, come down to the Cavern, and allow me to leave the pages once and for all.”

Keith glares at him. “You won’t win. The Mandrakes are being used to revive the petrified victims as we speak.”

Niko shrugs. “My mission has evolved from killing Mudbloods. I’ve become interested in the both of you. How is it that an infant and a seven-year-old managed to defeat the most powerful wizard in the world? Neither of you had magic! How did you defeat Lord Zarkon?!”

“Zarkon was not the greatest wizard! Headmaster Alfor was and now Shiro is!” Keith yells. “Zarkon was a coward and couldn’t even beat a baby! I was that baby! I’m even more powerful than him!”

“Why do you even care about Zarkon? He was before your time,” Lance says.

Niko chuckles. “Lord Zarkon was my past, is my present, and will be my future.” He lifts up Keith’s want and traces out his full name, Niko Malz Dorra then rearranges them to read  _ I Am Lord Zarkon _ . “Now answer me! How did you survive my attacks?!”

“My mother died to protect me,” Lance replies.

Keith nods in agreement. “Same with my parents.”

Niko tilts his head in confusion and shakes his head no. “Impossible, not both of your parents are dead. I-”

A bird’s call interrupts Niko and Keith sees Black, Shiro’s pet Phoenix, fly in carrying the school’s Sorting Hat in her beak before flying onto Keith’s awaiting arm.

“Black? What’s she doing here?” Lance wonders, stroking her neck.

Niko laughs. “This is what your so-called headmaster sends you? A pity…I thought this would be a fair duel, but oh well!” He smirks and begins to speak in Parseltongue, telling the Baku to emerge from its Cavern.

Lance and Keith cover their eyes and Keith feels Black leave his arm. They hear a loud hissing noise then a loud, almost roar-like yell ring throughout the Cavern, spooking Lance and Keith to run away. As they run, Keith hears a spitting noise followed by pained hissing. He slows down and slowly turns around to see Black remove her beak from the Baku’s other eye. He smiles widely. “Lance! Black blinded the Baku!” he yells.

“NO!” Niko yells angrily.

The blind Baku sways madly around the Cavern and sweeps the Sorting Hat into Keith’s hands. Keith desperately wishes for some help since Niko still has his wand and, out of nowhere, the Sorting Hat produces a glittering sword with red jewels embedded in the handle. He pulls it out of the hat and holds it up in awe as he reads the name Godric Gryffindor carved in the blade of the sword.

Keith looks over at Niko and smirks before looking back at Lance. “Let’s kick its ass.”

Lance readies his wand and sends a blast of magic at the Baku, getting its attention. “HEY! BIG UGLY SNAKE! OVER HERE!” he yells, taunting it before taking off down one of the pipes.

The Baku roars, slithering towards Lance’s direction. Lance smirks and starts running down one of the pipes, sending zaps of magic in random areas to confuse the Baku further. Keith readies the sword once the Baku begins making its way over. He goes to slash at the Baku, but the Baku’s tail lands in the water, sending a wave of water at Keith causing him to fall down. Keith groans in pain, steering the Baku’s attention at him. His eyes widen in shock and he takes off running in the opposite direction, hiding behind a wall of one of the pipes. He holds his breath as he hears the Baku slowly making its way closer to Keith. He peers out and almost screams when he sees it inches away from his face. Keith holds the sword at the ready and goes to make an attack but a blast of red magic comes from down the hallway, sending the Baku back a few feet.

Lance’s footsteps sound down the pipe and he runs up to where Keith is hiding and gestures for him to follow Lance. “I’ve got an idea!” he exclaims, leading Keith through the pipes, eventually leading them back out to the center area. “I’ll lure it out here then you pierce its side!”

Keith nods and Lance sends a spell down the hallway, getting the Baku’s attention. Keith moves to the side and waits until he has a good target. The Baku gets closer and closer to Lance, but Keith stabs the sword into the Baku’s side before it bites down on Lance. He waits for it to collapse dead, but instead it turns on Keith and starts going after him. Keith screams and runs up the stairs to the top of Slytherin’s statue. Lance sends more spells at the Baku, but it ignores him, continuing its pursuit for Keith.

Keith trips once he gets to the top and turns to see the Baku preparing to chomp down on him. He yells and thrusts the sword in the air, piercing the Baku through the roof of its mouth, killing it. Keith winces as one of the fangs penetrates through his forearm. He slowly pulls the sword out, causing the fang that’s lodged in his arm to come out pop out of the Baku’s mouth. Keith shakily makes his way down the stairs before collapsing on the ground in pain, yanking the fang from his arm. He whimpers in pain as he watches the wound bleed and feels himself grow weaker because of the poison.

“Keith!” Lance yells, rushing over to him, holding him in his arms. His eyes well up with tears and he shakes his head no. “No…you can’t die. Keith, please…”

Keith coughs and sees Black fly over and land on the ground by his hurt arm. A silver tear falls from her eye onto his wound. Niko walks over and laughs. “Even the bird knows he’s dying.”

Lance glares at Niko and sends a spell in his direction, but Niko deflects it. “You bastard! You killed him!” Lance screams, tears spilling down his cheeks. “You killed him…”

Niko shrugs. “Keith killed my Baku…this is simply payback.”

Suddenly Keith feels his energy returning and the pain in his arm subsides. He looks down at the wound and sees it closing shut into a small scar. “What the…” He furrows his eyebrows in confusion, but realizes what happened. “Phoenix tears! They have healing qualities!” He looks at Niko. “You lose!”

“NO! IMPOSSIBLE!” Niko yells. “I WON’T BE BESTED BY TWO TWELVE-YEAR-OLDS!” He lifts Keith’s wand up to kill the both of them, but Black knocks the diary into Keith’s hands.

Keith looks at it in confusion then thinks back to what Niko said earlier. He said he was a memory preserved in the diary so perhaps if they destroy that…

He gasps. “Lance!” Keith exclaims. “The fang! Quick! Stab the diary!”

Lance grabs the Baku’s fang and stabs it in the center of the diary. Niko drops Keith’s wand and screams in agony as he begins to disappear, glowing from the center before he completely vanishes into thin air. Keith looks up at Lance and smiles widely. Lance drops the fang and pulls Keith in for a big hug, holding him tightly. “I thought you were gonna die! You-you were poisoned!”

Keith rubs his back. “I’m okay now. It’s okay, Lance.” He smiles at Black and she nods at him before turning to Lucy as she begins to stir. “Lance, Lucy is waking up.”

Lance releases Keith and turns to his sister. “Lucy?” he asks, getting her attention.

“Lance? What happened?” she asks as Lance and Keith hurry over to help her stand.

Lance snatches Keith’s wand from the floor and puts it in his pocket with his own wand before putting his arm around his sister to support her. “Come on, we need to get you out of here.”

Keith goes and grabs the Sorting Hat, the sword, and the destroyed diary before following Lance, Lucy, and Black out of the Cavern back to where Pidge and a thoroughly vacant Lubos waits. Lucy suddenly bursts into tears, some of her memories of what happened coming back and Lance rubs her back. “It’s okay, Lucy. It’s over now.”

Keith nods at Pidge’s work at clearing the rocks and the five of them grab hold of Black’s tail feathers and are pulled back up the pipes. Myrtle floats above, watching them then huffs, crossing her arms. “Keith! You didn’t die!?” she demands.

“I did not,” Keith replies.

She frowns. “Aww…you’re very cute and I was hoping you’d share my toilet with me.” She giggles and twists her hair in her finger.

Keith feels Lance grab his arm and pull him a little closer as they leave Myrtle’s bathroom, following Black to Allura’s office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm SUPER pumped for book three! The first chapter is nearly finished so it should hopefully be up next week sometime.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Please be kind in the comment section! The artist and I work very hard on this! :)  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com/)


	17. All's Well That Ends Well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end to Keith's and his friends' second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Before they the final feast, they have to explain themselves and explain what they found in the Cavern of Mysteries. Perhaps they find out a little more of what's been going on at the school...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINAL CHAPTER WHOOOOOO!!!! Thank you everyone for sticking by this long...the wizarding adventure has only just begun.
> 
> Enjoy!

Keith, Lance, Lucy, Pidge, and Lubos enter Allura’s office and find Shiro, Allura, Luis, and Ryland waiting inside. Once Ryland catches sight of Lucy, he immediately hugs her tightly. Black flies into the room and Keith sees Shiro hold out his arm for her. She caws at him and lands on his shoulder, nuzzling up next to him. “Good girl,” Shiro says, ruffling her feathers.

Allura smiles at Shiro and Black then turns to Keith and Lance. “How did you save Lucy?”

Keith sighs and begins telling them the story from the start, sharing how he and Lance were able to hear the voice in the pipes through the walls, explaining the attacks, eventually telling how they met Aragog and explain Slav being framed. He shares how Moaning Myrtle was murdered by the Baku fifty years before by Niko Dorra who actually did open the Cavern of Mysteries. He mentions the diary, but avoids mentioning what the diary actually did.

“Okay, that makes some sense,” Allura says. “But why was the diary so important to Lucy that she had to steal it back?”

Keith winces and looks at Shiro, hoping he won’t force him to tell, but Shiro raises his eyebrows, waiting to hear what he has to say. “Okay, in order for Niko to actually get control of her, she had to talk with him a lot. She told him about her grades at Hogwarts and her insecurities about her relationship. By doing this, he was able to put a bit of his soul in her and control her to open the Cavern and release him from the diary.”

Shiro nods then looks at Luis and Ryland. “Would you two take Lucy to the infirmary? Coran should take a look at her while he administers the Mandrake juice to the petrified victims.” Luis and Ryland nod, leaving with Lucy. he turns to Allura. “Make an announcement to the school, calling for a feast and say everyone is allowed to sit wherever they want with whoever they want in the Great Hall.” Allura smiles and nods, leaving to make the announcement. Finally, he turns to Keith, Pidge, and Lance. “I am awarding two hundred points to Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor for your bravery in battling the monster.”

“Hunk helped too,” Pidge says, handing Shiro the paper they found with Hunk. “If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have found the location.”

Shiro nods. “Two hundred to Hufflepuff as well then.” He skims over the paper then slips it in his pocket. “Now, Lance and Pidge, would you please take Lubos with you to the infirmary…it appears his memory has been wiped. Keith, you stay for a moment.”

Keith rolls his eyes, already knowing what this is about.

Pidge shrugs. “No idea how that happened!” She smiles at Shiro then takes Lubos with her and Lance.

Keith waves goodbye to Lance then turns to Shiro, crossing his arms. Shiro offers Keith a smile. “How have you-”

“Cut the crap, Shiro. Get to the point,” Keith interrupts bitterly. “Why did Black come to our aid down there?”

Shiro sighs. “Because of the true loyalty you and Lance showed, not only to me, but to Alfor Quinn down in the Cavern.”

Keith internally winces, suddenly feeling guilty for giving Shiro the cold shoulder. He wants to ask why Shiro can’t adopt him, but decides against it. “Why did this sword come out of the hat?” Keith asks, handing the sword of Gryffindor to Shiro.

“The sword is Godric Gryffindor’s and only a true Gryffindor could’ve pulled it out. Lance must be a true Gryffindor because-” Shiro starts.

“I pulled it out,” Keith interrupts. “The sword…it came to me.”

Shiro blinks, stunned for a moment. “Well…” He smiles at Keith. “You may be in Slytherin, but you’re a Gryffindor at heart.”

Keith looks at the ground. “Am I like Dorra? Marked with evil potential because I was put in Slytherin?”

Shiro shakes his head no. “The Hat put you in Slytherin because you show more prominent Slytherin traits over Gryffindor ones. Turns out, your father was a Gryffindor while your mom was a Slytherin.”

“Now that we’re talking about my parents, Dorra made a comment about not both of my parents being dead even though the night he broke into my house and claimed to have killed them,” Keith shares.

Shiro pauses for a moment, as if to decide what his response to that should be. “I have no idea what that means, but it could be the reason why the Ministry can’t find your parents’ bodies. Zarkon may have imprinted on you in a different way,” Shiro says.

Keith blinks, suddenly feeling very emotional on the fact that one of his parents could be alive, he runs to Shiro, hugging him tightly while crying in his chest. “I-I’m so sorry, Shiro! I-I’ve been such a brat to you this year!” He sobs and clings to Shiro. “I understand why you c-can’t adopt me now.” Keith pulls away and looks up at Shiro. “It’s because one of my parents is alive.”

Shiro kneels and smiles kindly at Keith, wiping his tears away. “I am so proud of you, Keith.” He pulls Keith in for another hug and Keith cries on his shoulder some more, happy to have a father-type figure in his life.

After a few more minutes, Keith pulls away to ask Shiro another question, but the door flies open, revealing Sendak Morrison and Chulatt squealing at his heels. “Why have you returned to Hogwarts?!” Sendak demands.

Shiro stands up straight. “The attacks have stopped.” He crosses his arms. “And eleven of the school governors contacted me, begging me to return to Hogwarts. They also hinted at blackmail being used against them so they would suspend me. Does that ring any bells, Sendak?”

Sendak glares at Shiro. “Lies! How do you know the attacks won’t continue to happen?!”

Shiro holds up the diary. “This was the source of it all.”

Chulatt begins making strange faces and gestures between Sendak and the diary. Keith furrows his eyebrows in confusion at first, but then understands it to mean that Sendak slipped the diary into Lucy’s possession. He remembers the showdown at Flourish and Blotts so many months ago. “You’re the one who gave it to Lucy in the first place! When we saw you at Flourish and Blotts and started insulting Luis McClain!” Keith exclaims.

Sendak’s eyes widen before he narrows them at Keith. “What proof do you have? Come on, Chulatt! We’re leaving!”

Keith panics, not wanting Sendak to get away with this nor punish Chulatt any further. He then quickly takes off one of his dirty, probably bloody, socks and takes the diary from Shiro’s hands then follows Sendak out the door. Keith wraps the diary in the sock then hands it to Sendak. “I think you forgot something.”

Sendak unwraps it and disgustedly throws the sock down onto Chulatt. She holds it with a thrilled expression. “Master has given Chulatt a sock! Chulatt is a free elf-mouse!”

“What?!” Sendak exclaims.

Chulatt looks at Keith with a wide smile. “Thank you Keith Kogane.” She snaps her fingers and disappears with a crack.

Sendak glares at Keith. “You’ll pay for this Kogane! I swear on it!”

Shiro walks out of Allura’s office and puts his hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Come along, Keith.” He takes him to the feast where Lance and Pidge are.

Keith’s eyes widen in surprise and he takes off running when he sees the recently un-petrified Hunk and hugs him. “Hunk! You’re okay!”

Hunk chuckles. “You know it dude!”

“We never would’ve figured this out if it weren’t for you,” Keith comments, releasing Hunk to sit next to him.

“Yeah! You’re even smarter than me when you’re petrified!” Lance adds with a smile.

They turn their attention to the front when Shiro walks up to the podium. “Hello everyone. It’s good to be back and I hope I was missed dearly.”

Matt boos from his seat at the teacher’s table and Allura whacks him gently.

“Well, I should say almost everyone. Anyway, all Defense Against the Dark Arts classes are cancelled because Lubos has been removed from the staff for reasons I cannot say.” He winks in Pidge, Lance, and Keith’s direction. “Sendak Morrison has been fired as school governor, all exams are canceled due to the catastrophes that have happened, and, last but not least, I am happy to announce that Slav is back.”

The doors to the Great Hall open and Slav walks in, causing everyone to go quiet. He makes his way down the rows and stops when he reaches Lance, Keith, Pidge, and Hunk. “I want to thank you four for what you did…without you, I’d still be in Beta Traz right now.”

Keith smiles and stands, giving him a hug. “Hogwarts wouldn’t be the same without you.”

Lance, Pidge, and Hunk stand, clapping and eventually the entire hall bursts into applause for Slav. Slav returns to his seat at the teacher’s table and the hall quiets down. “Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…the winner of the house cup.” Shiro clears his throat. “In fourth place with five hundred and thirty-two points, Ravenclaw! In third place with five hundred and seventy-six points, Hufflepuff! In second place with six hundred and twenty-two points, Gryffindor! In first place with seven hundred and forty-nine points, Slytherin!”

Keith and the rest of Slytherin house erupt in cheers and Stella and Sophia find their way over to Keith and hug him tightly. They sit with Keith and his friends while they finish up the feast before taking Keith back to the Slytherin common room to pack up. Keith meets with Pidge, Lance, and Hunk and they head to the train together. Hunk stops them before they get on the train. “I’m going to say my goodbyes now since I promised Shay I’d sit with her and a few other Hufflepuffs,” Hunk says.

Pidge, Lance, and Keith take turns hugging Hunk before they board the train and pick their own compartment. Lucy and Marco join them and Lance quickly shuts the door before anyone else can walk inside. “Okay, so, what were you going to tell me before Hannah interrupted? What did you catch her doing?” Lance wonders.

Marco immediately starts laughing, unable to say anything. Lucy simply chuckles. “We caught Hannah making out with Tasha Parks in an empty classroom,” she reveals.

Keith’s and Pidge’s jaws drop at the news, but Lance simply just claps. “I _knew_ it! I called it! I knew from the day I met Tasha there was something different about her and Hannah!”

They all laugh and share other stories on their way back to the station. Once they arrive, Keith waves goodbye to Lance and Pidge then leaves to ride back with Shiro to the foster home. He makes sure Red is safely in her cage before getting into Shiro’s car.

He’s ready for whatever next year has instore for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, not sure when book 3 chapter 1 will be posted, but hopefully before I leave for college again!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Please be kind in the comment section; the artist and I work very hard on this!  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my other series [here](http://archiveofourown.org/series/736509) and my Voltron Cop AU [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12734550/chapters/29038824)!


End file.
